a reporter. no experience whatsoever. host: he has military experience. caller: he has been in the military as a reporter. come on. i was in the military, too. not as a reporter, i was in the military. . you wonder why everything is falling apart. everything is falling apart. nothing works. as far as doge is concerned, those people that claim he has done such a great job -- host: i apologize. we have to leave it there. the house of representatives is coming in. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. march 27, 2025. i hereby appoint the honorable

addison p. mcdowell to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, mike johnson, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by the guest chaplain, rabbi pinkus cement. the chaplain: almighty god, i begin my prayer with an act of charitable kindness. creator and master of his universe, after the biblical story of the great flood which you spread noah and his family, you gave guidance and instructions through him to all of humanity. you taught how to lead a moral, ethical, and productive life in the form of seven kinding principle, also known as the seven noah height laws. these laws are found in the bible in the book of genesis and sacred commentaries, worship you, not to blasphemous your

name, not to commit murder, not to engage in relationships, to the to be cruel to any living creature, and for every society to be governed by just laws that are based on the recognition and acknowledgement of you, o god, as a sovereign ruler of all humankind and all nations. almighty god, bless the members of this august body, the united states house of representatives, who convened to fulfill your very guidance to establish such just laws. bless them with health, clarity, wisdom, compassion, and good fellship. >> i beseech you of the saint of blessed memory who came to the shores in 1941 and described this country as a nation of kindness. and passionately share the richness and importance of the said seven laws for all to embrace. to please grant that the vision

of our nation for world imbued with peace and tranquility. be the count downing achievements of this mighty and awesome savior of our days. let us say amen the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house the approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from texas, ms. garcia. ms. garcia: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman from arkansas, mr. hill, is recognized for one minute. mr. hill: mr. speaker, i rise today to welcome today's guest chaplain, my friend, rabbi

pinchus ciment. the rabbi is a director of the lubavitch of little rock and the longest serving rabbi in our state e was born in boston, mass, and moved to little rock with his wife in 1992. rabbi siment has lectured on matters in judaism at several universities in arkansas and been a frequent author in the ask the clergy section of our statewide newspaper, the "arkansas democrat-gazette." he studied at the rabbinical seminary in morristown, new jersey. and the yeshiva in brooklyn, new york. received thinking ordination in 1990. he's a devoted husband to his wife and proud father of 10 children. i'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to rabbi ciment for delivering a beautiful opening prayer. i wish him and family continued success in serving the central

arkansas community. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five further requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania seek recognition? mr. thompson: mr. speaker is, request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. thompson: mr. speaker, i rise today to congratulate ten penn state wrestling, the 2025 ncaa division i national champions. continuing their dominance of ncaa wrestling, the nittany lions brought their 13th national title to happy samly. under the leadership of coach cael sanderson, this team has won 12 of the last 15 ncaa championships. penn state's two individual champions are a testament to the strength of their program. as well as their personal

strength, talent, and determination. carter starroci made history by becoming the first wrestler to win five individual nay nightles. mitchell messenbrink claimed his first with an outstanding performance. beyond individual triumphs, the nittany lions made history as only the second team ever to have 10 all americans in one tournament. the success would not be upon without the dedication of the coaching staff, families, and the unwavering support of the penn state community. as a graduate of penn state, i am proud to congratulate penn state wrestling on winning the 2025 national championship and on their continuing success. we are -- thank you, mr. mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> thank you, mr. speaker. i welcome the opportunity to celebrate larry huggins' incredible contributions to illinois and chicago. larry is a trail blazer, at a time when black people were discouraged from construction jobs, larry founded a construction company that is still thriving and has helped build some of chicago's most famous landmarks. mr. krishnamoorthi: huggins is an imminent civic leader as well. he served as acting chairman of metra and founded the familious christmas in the wards to distribute toys and other gifts to chicago's needy. he also co-founded the chicago football classic, which is a yearly football game between two hbcu's at soldier field. the game is accompanied by scholarships, workshops, and outreach for students. from business success to civic leadership, i am pleased to congratulate larry huggins on a life of exemplary service and achievement.

thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california seek recognition? mrs. kim: i rise to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. kim: thank you. i rise to celebrate sidney tran. she's a seventh trade student at elrancho school in orange for becoming orange county's new spelling bee champion. she earned her well deserved victory and secured a spot at the scripps national spelling bee by spelling the word obsucration in the 14th round of competition. in addition to her spelling skills, sidney is also on the school robotics team and participates in communities service projects. embodying the spirit of a well-rounded and engaged student. her success serves as an inspiration to her pierce --

peers brings pride to our entire community. sidney will soon head to washington, d.c., to represent orange county at the national spelling bee in may. sidney, good luck. we are cheering you on. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minutes. mr. garcia: mr. speaker, for women's history months i rise to honor the parent leaders from the resurrection project known as, last la mass or the back of the yard moms. a powerhouse of immigrant women who are the heart and soul of their community on chicago's south side. mothers like consuello, maria, marta, victoria and others show

us the real leadership and what it looks like. they educate neighbors on their right, organize rapid responses when raids threaten families, and distribute food when the fridge is empty to keep our youth safe and supported. from city hall to washington and right inside our schools, these women ensure that their voices and the community voices are heard. they are respected, admired, and deeply rooted in the back of the yard, and yes, they keep like me on our toes, always causing good trouble. in honoring them, we honor the power of immigrant women everywhere. their courage and commitment. and the fight for a better fuhr for all of us. i thank them, i stand with them, and i celebrate them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i seek unanimous

consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarksment the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, during this district work period that so many of us were out on over the past week hi the opportunity of hosting discussion was business leaders and constituents across indiana's sixth district. mr. shreve: with our community leaders, i had conversations that focused on the need to extend the pro-growth policies of the tax cuts and jobs act. over 17 visits across my district. i spoke with our seniors on medicare advantage. i spoke with hoosier farmers at national ag dade at our purdue extension facility in johnson county. i heard from our indiana realtors. no one knows our communities like our realtors, about the importance of home ownership. having sufficient housing inventory for job growth and economic creation. i appreciate these listen and learn opportunities with our

local small businesses and constituents. all policy is so very local. i'm proud to work with businesses across indiana's sixth district to bring business sense to washington. the american people expect results and we must deliver. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? ms. garcia: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. garcia: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, yes, that's me, in 1977. i was a young law student representing texas at the historic international women's year conference in houston. ann richards was right behind me, she was getting ready to make a speech on a a she'd go on to be governor and i went on to

serve in the city, county, state, and now here in federal government. but that day we were doing what i'm doing right now, fighting for the equal rights amendment. fighting to guarantee equal rights for all women under the constitution. i still have the e.r.a. pin i wore that day. i have kept it for nearly 50 years because the fight isn't over. this week i stood with powerful women in congress to introduce a resolution that removes our final barrier, the arbitrary deadline set decades ago. if it passes, the e.r.a. becomes the 28th amendment. we must pass this resolution. we must remove all barriers to women. because our rights don't have deadlines. our rights are human rights. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? mr. lamalfa: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is

recognized for one minute. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. speaker. we must use budget reconciliation to repeal the so-called inflation reduction act. i.r.a. the green subsidies within that. there are trillion dollar disaster driving up energy cost, undermining grid reliability, and forcing out dependable power sources like coal, natural gas, and the dam destruction we see happening. keeping one of them threatens real spending reductions and makes it nearly impossible to rein in the national deaf of around $2 trillion brought on by the biden administration and democrat majorities in the house and senate. europe's energy crisis shows what happens when a country relies on too much unreliable renewables. meanwhile, china profits off our bad policies, selling us solar panels while expanding its own coal production and power plants. we cannot let the left's green welfare agenda weaken our energy security while boosting our

biggest adversary any longer. full repeal means saving taxpayers $1 trillion in wasteful spending. easing inflation, and lowering cost force families and small businesses, and restoring energy reliable -- reliably and security by stabilizing our grid. reconciliation is the path forward. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from vermont seek recognition? ms. balint: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. balint: ms. balint: just need a little help adjusting the microphone. thank you. mr. speaker, i want to clarify something for some of my colleagues and for leaders across this country because there seems to be some confusion. there is a big difference

between taking a knee and bending a knee. taking a knee shows that you can hold many truths at once. you can love our country and believe that there is still more work to do. it shows that you're willing to do that work and to live up to our country's ideals. but bending a knee is something quite different. bending a knee is capitulation. it's what you do when you've given up. when you've lost your fight. when you've lost your way. when you are not willing to show courage, to show up, to speak up. taking a knee, you got skin in the game. bending a knee, you have given in. you have lost your self-respect. we were not elected to be obedient, to submit, to cower. we were not sent here to worship one man. we have no kings in america. we were sent here to work on

behalf of the people. if you're not risking anything, you are not being brave. show some grit and stand up for your people. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. correa: mr. speaker, today i rise to congratulate the anaheim high school girls water polo team, they just won the c.i.f. division 6 championship. this victory represents hard work, determination and perseverance on behalf of the players and their coaches. and they did that the whole season. as an anaheim high school alumni myself, i want to congratulate the parent, coaches and teachers. again, you've made us proud. and i ask my colleagues today to join me in celebrating this

great victory for anaheim high school's girls' water polo team. and remember, once a colonist, always a colonist. mr. speaker, i yield. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas, mr. weber, seek recognition? mr. weber: mr. speaker, pursuant to house resolution 242, i call up house joint resolution 24 and ask for its immediate consideration in the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report. the clerk: house joint resolution 24. joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rules submitted by the department of energy relating to energy conservation program, energy conservation standards for walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 242, the joint resolution is considered read. the joint resolution shall be debatable for one hour, equally divided and controlled by the

chair and ranking minority member of the committee on energy and commerce or their representative designees. the gentleman from texas, mr. weber, and the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. weber. mr. weber: thank you, mr. speaker. i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to insert extraneous material on h.j.res. 24. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. weber: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i might consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. weber: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, on december 23, 2024, as american households and billses are -- businesses are in the process of preparing for the holidays, the biden-harris department of energy finalized burdensome and unnecessary energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and walk-in freezers. these products are staples,

they're necessary in businesses and restaurants across the country. and they play an essential role in providing consumers with safe and fresh food, as well as drinks. unfortunately, mr. speaker, the biden-harris administration's final rule jeopardizes those very same small and independent retailers' ability to serve the communities that rely on them. this final rule will force stores like small grocers and convenience stores to incur significant, major up-front costs for new equipment. i know because i operated air conditioning equipment for -- business for 35 years. they will incur significant major up-front costs, while reckoning with associated operational disruptions and supply chain challenges. the biden-harris d.o.e. itself

estimated that the cost of these standards, which were last updated just a handful of years ago, to be almost $1 billion, with a b. however, the real cost, mr. speaker, is likely much higher as d.o.e. ignored other costs businesses will be forced to absorb. i know, i operate an air conditioning company for 35 years. for example, like any structural changes needed to accommodate a new walk-in cooler or freezer in order to comply with their final rule. unfortunately this final rule will disproportionately impact rural communities and small businesses. in many areas across the country, mr. speaker, including in my district in texas, there are communities with limited food and drink and retail options. it's not uncommon for a convenience store to bridge that gap in providing food to american families. these same small businesses, which are often owned and

operated by a single family or an individual, cannot afford the new equipment mandated by these unreasonable standards. in fact, 90% of food and drink retailers are categorized as small businesses and operate, get this, with a one to three -- 1% to 3% margin. that's how slim the margin is. the result will be significant costs being passed down to consumers and in the worst case scenario, the shuttering of businesses, those mom and pop businesses that we all like, they may be shuttered, prevented from providing essential services to their very communities that they grew up in. well, thankfully, mr. speaker, the house is considering h.j.res. 24, introduced by representative bice of oklahoma, to repeal this disastrous final rule. over the last four years, small businesses have endured supply chain challenges and

inflationary environment and regulatory uncertainty, just to name a few. congress has the opportunity today to chart a new path for the small and independent retailers and grocers that feed american families by repealing this final rule. i thank the gentlelady from oklahoma for her leadership on this issue and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting h.j.res. 24. once again, i'm going to urge all my colleagues' support and i reserve, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you. i rise in strong opposition to h.j.res. 24, the fourth republican resolution this congress to dismantle energy conservation standards for appliances. and this harmful resolution guts the department of energy efficiency rule for walk-in coolers and freezers which will

increase energy costs for businesses and consumers. and i stress that again. it will increase, if this rule is repealed, will have increased energy costs for businesses and consumers. and because it's a congressional review act resolution, it prevents the department of energy from ever issuing substantially similar standards in the future. now, let me say, mr. speaker, at a time when americans are struggling to make ends meet, and facing the reality that republicans may soon strip them and their families of health care, it's shocking that house republicans are spending another day here on the floor focusing on repealing commonsense energy efficiency standards that save businesses and consumers money. this whole congress has been a revolving door of resolution after resolution, attacking conservation standards for different appliances. in fact, we were on the floor just yesterday afternoon debating another energy efficiency standard for commercial refrigerators and

freezers. an effort to repeal that, i should point out. now, instead of investigating, which is what they should be doing, the shocking and unprecedented breach of security and leaked military strikes from top trump national security officials, which threatens our national security and our defense, instead of doing that, we're here once again wasting valuable floor time debating energy efficiency standards. or maybe we should be taking action to protect social security from the trump administration's funding cuts that could stop seniors from gutting the benefits that they earned through a lifetime of work. my constituents are already telling me they can't even call the social security office anymore. they don't -- you know, there's nobody there. they've cut the staff. they've cut the phone service. they can't even access the social security administration anymore under this administration. under the trump administration. or maybe, mr. speaker, we should be reversing the trump administration's actions to close the department of education and rip away funding from students and teachers and

schools. house republicans are not likely to take on any of these actions that i suggested because they refuse to take on president trump, even when he's breaking the law. so it's clear that my republican colleagues do not have their priorities in order. in fact, it seems to me their only priority is securing giant tax breaks for their billionaire buddies at the expense of american families and businesses. and h.j.res. 24 fits right into the republican agenda of raising costs on hardworking americans. now, i would not be remiss if i didn't point out the irony of this resolution. president trump and republicans ran on a promise to cut energy costs in half in his first year. yet here we are once again wasting precious time on the floor with a resolution that would raise energy costs for american businesses by wasting more energy. the energy efficiency standards under threat today from walk-in refrigerators and freezers will save american businesses up to $6.5 billion on utility bills

over the next 30 years. these businesses include restaurants, convenient stores and supermarkets across the country and republicans' anti-efficiency agenda will rob them of these cost savings. this is especially concerning at a time when we're hearing more and more stories about the damaging impacts of trump's extreme tariffs, the rising cost of groceries, and the chaos and uncertainty that trump is bringing every day to our economy. people are concerned about a trump recession. that's what they're worried about today. that's what i hear when i go home. but republicans don't care about everyday americans. they only care about doing the bidding of their billionaire corporate buddies at the expense of consumer and working families. energy efficientsy standards for appliance -- efficiency standards for appliances are designed to reduce energy use and climate pollution, while also saving consumers and businesses money. reducing an appliance's energy use also helps decrease stress on the electric grid. the resolution today is proof that my republican colleagues' concern about grid stress, we

had a hearing yesterday on that, and the increased load growth from data centers and american manufacturing are hollow. merely lip service. if republicans truly cared about reducing stress on the electric grid, which is what they said yesterday at the hearing, they would stop dismantling energy efficiency standards designed to ease strain on future electric grid capacity. the true intent of this anti-efficiency resolution is not to help american businesses, but to line the pockets of the billionaire cronies and oil and gas friends. because you guessed it, less efficient appliances means more profits for big oil and gas. so i urge my colleagues to oppose this resolution, mr. speaker, and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. weber: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm not quite sure how to respond to that. this early in the morning, i don't know if some of our colleagues have been drinking this early or not.

but that notwithstanding, i want to recognize the gentlelady from oklahoma for such time as she may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized. mrs. bice: thank you, mr. speaker. first, let me say i rise obviously in strong support of house joint resolution 24. legislation that i authored which uses the congressional review act to overturn regulations by the biden administration. i was extremely excited this morning to be notified that i have a statement of administrative policy support from president trump on this legislation. in december of 2024, the department of energy enacted new energy efficiency standards for walk-in coolers and freezers. equipment vital to pharmacies, convenient stores, food procession facilities, food banks, restaurants and many other establishments nationwide. these regulations will impose significant financial burdens on small businesses which will have to absorb major upgrade costs to

meet these new, aggressive standards. at a time when our focus should be on lowering the cost of living for our constituents, it's clear most of these expenses will be borne by consumers in the form of increased priceless -- prices. furthermore, they threaten significant operational disruption for many enterprises that rely on this equipment. we have heard from many businesses in rural areas, which will have to go through extensive structural and electrical upgrades to accommodate the new equipment. these same businesses have reported that getting their refrigerators and freezers repaired is a process which is already taking too long and expensive and will become even more so. ... for businesses looking to interunderserved markets this will be a barrier. for businesses operating on a narrow profit margin, this could be what sends them under. recognizing these detrimental

impacts i fought against the adoption of this rule and expressed my disapproval last year during the public comment period. like many of the rules handed down by the biden administration, this effort will have a harsh economic impact while failing to achieve its own stated goal. d.o.e. estimates that the rule would carry a minimum price tag of nearly $1 billion, with minimal energy usage reduction. my colleague mentioned that it would be a savings of $6 billion over 30 years, but what he didn't mention to you is the cost of new equipment, replacement equipment, with these new energy efficiency standards could be tens of thousands of dollars adding up to billions and billions of dollars that are going to be borne by these businesses. i'm grateful president trump has taken the decisive action to halt these rules by having the department of energy postpone the effective date of these standards. providing breathing room for businesses. however, more work needs to be

done and congress has a role to play. my resolution seeks to ensure that these overreaching regulations are permanently overturned. by doing so, we will protect small businesses from unnecessary compliance cost, and preserve the diversity of choice available to consumers. this action aligns with our broader commitment to roll back burdensome regulations that stifle economic growth and infringe upon individual freedoms. in fact, according to the national association of manufacturers, in 2022, the total cost of regulations is estimated over $3 trillion. we cannot continue to allow burdensome regulations on every aspect of our lives and our businesses. i urge my colleagues to support house joint resolution 24. legislation that will reduce burdens on businesses and serve in the best interest of the american people. with 245 -- that, mr. speaker, i

yield. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield three minutes to a member of the energy and commerce committee, the gentleman from california. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. mullin: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to strongly oppose h.j.res. 24. it's baffling to me that amidst skyrocketing electricity costs, the highest they have been since the 1990's, we are talking about overturning commonsense energy efficiency standards. economists predict the standards would save american taxpayers billions of dollars. you don't need to be an economist to know that a better fridge or freezer will mean lower costs on your utility bill. for families going to the local grocery, the standards would lower prices and reduce financial strain. for small businesses, it means less overhead and more

profitability. these benefits are why the department of energy has set energy efficiency standards for decades across republican and democratic administrations. with broad support and little controversy. america should be leading the world in creating and adopting innovative technologies, especially one that is reduce costs and help the environment. unfortunately, there was just another empty campaign promise by candidate trump that electricity costs would be reduced. let me just emphasize that democrats believe in an economy that works for all people. under the last administration we passed legislation that created nearly half a million new jobs in just two years. the federal government set standards that will save money. i just want to conclude by saying that americans will save

$1 trillion on their energy bills over the next 30 years under the previous policies. that's $1 trillion. we will continue to fight for commonsense policies for everyday people. that's why i oppose h.j.res. 24. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr.: the gentlelady from north dakota is recognized for such time she might consume. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today in strong support of house joint resolution 24. legislation led by my friend, representative stephanie bice. this reverses yet another burdensome biden administration mandate that will add senseless costs for families and small businesses for no real benefit. mrs. fedorchak: the biden department of energy's rule on walk-on refrigeration equipment is textbook example of government overreach. this rule imposes sweeping

unrealistic energy standards that demand massive energy reductions. but this isn't just about energy policy. it's about the reality facing restaurant owners, grocery stores, and convenience stores in north dakota and across the country. these businesses have battled through four years of inflation, supply chain disruptions, and workforce challenges. now washington bureaucrats are telling them to replace perfectly good refrigeration equipment at a nationwide cost of nearly $1 billion. just to meet an arbitrary o one-size-fits-all efficiency target to comply with these standards manufacturers will have to increase prices on already expensive equipment. these costs will land squarely on the businesses and ultimately the american people. 90% of the food and drink retailers impacted by this rule are small businesses. business that is are critical to the u.s. economy, employing

millions of americans and contributing more than $200 billion annually. this rule is not economically justified. it's washington at its worst. it's no wonder that before president trump took office, 75% of the country thought that we were headed in the wrong direction. it's rules just like this that they know about. speaker, this is a bad rule. it's bad for business, and it's bad for customers. let's stop this misguided regulation before it does more real damage to the small businesses that drive our economy. i urge my colleagues to put common sense over bureaucratic overreach and support house joint resolution 24. mr. speaker, i yield back. mr. weber: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield such time as she may consume to the the gentlewoman from florida, ms. castor, the

ranking member of our subcommittee on energy. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. castor: thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the gentleman for yielding his time. i rise in opposition to this republican bill that requires business owners to spend more money and use more energy. mr. speaker, here we are at the end of march, it's the 83rd day since the congress convened under the republican majority. republicans haven't brought one bill to the floor of the house to help lower costs or tackle the cost of living for our neighbors back home. instead, republicans have been singularly focused on crafting a massive tax giveaway for billionaires like elon musk, that is paid for by health coverage, ripping away health coverage from the people we love the most. kids, our parents, our neighborhoods who rely on skilled nursing. people would disabilities who especially rely on medicaid.

it's wrong. and it makes life harder for people back home. makes their lives more expensive. and people want answers. but republicans have refused to hold town halls and many of them will not even answer the phone. at my town hall last week in sto know why the administration and republicans want to make it more difficult to receive social security. rather than strengthen social security. instead of a wasteful time consuming silly bill like this, why don't we work together and bring to the floor a bill that will strengthen social security. that would be a help to our neighbors back home. i think what it comes down to is that republicans here in congress are out of reach--out of touch with hardworking people. they are out of touch with their struggles. they want lower costs. they don't want bills like this that say you're going to pay

more and our big oil friends, they are going to make more on their bottom line. people are tired of being ripped off by a special interest and politician who is have all too much power here in washington, d.c. this bill is another example of that. republicans want to make it harder for business owners to save money through energy efficient appliances. energy efficiency saves people money. it's pretty straightforward. it cuts costs, it cuts pollution. it encourages innovation. and specifically here, electric bills for walk-in refrigerators and freezers are a huge line item for restaurants and grocery stores. taking those savings away will increase costs for businesses. and these are cost that is will be passed on to consumers. i want you to think about that next time you're in the frozen food aisle of your grocery store.

this is not right. overall when the department of energy goes in and works with manufacturers and consumer advocates, they come up, they look at the latest technology, and then move forward on adopting a standard that will be in effect years from now. they look particularly at the cost savings overall. and this -- the savings they estimated here are huge. $6.5 billion in utility bills savings over the next 30 years. and i have to say this also hits home in my community because many of the businesses -- many of my neighbors are rebuilding from hurricanes helene and milton. they were flooded out. they lost their appliances. many businesses were -- just went on the forfeits. this would be particularly -- on the fritz. this would be particularly helpful as they made investments they would save money over time.

this is exactly what congress intended when we passed the energy and conservation act. it was passed in 1975. we directed the department of energy to set and update these standards. energy efficiency standards also incentivize innovation. and american manufacturers have traditionally led the way in innovation due to updated standards. by weakening these rules, we open our marketers up to countries that manufacture low efficiency products like china at the expense of american companies and american families. here, the department of energy followed the law. they collaborated with manufacturers to ensure the standards work. now republicans after all of this hard work want to swoop in and repeal these standards on coolers and freezers. they are in essence walking out on the cost savings at a time

our neighborhoods really expect us to work together to lower the cost of living. but there is a larger issue here. and it's the fact that republicans are ignoring the affordability squeeze. you know when democrats were in charge we did everything we could to help lower you are cost of living. we passed a cap on insulin at $35 per month. we required medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. we gave you help on your health insurance bills. we made -- we provided tax rebates and savings for appliances and on your electric bills. this has led to a major manufacturing boom across the country. over 750 clean energy projects. over 400,000 new jobs created all across america. many in republican districts. there is -- there was until the trump administration came in and started these illegal shutdowns, and now threatening these two taxes through tariffs, that the

economy has stalled. have you looked at your 401-k lately? people are very uncertain. let's get back to business standing up for hardworking americans. standing up for businesses. making sure we guard their pocketbooks. we tackle the affordability squeeze to rather than serve the special interest here that have all too much power. republican billionaires, big oil companies, they are the real winners when you pass resolutions like this and you rip those savings away from american consumers. let's stand up for the people -- let's stand up for the people for a change. and not the powerful special interests. let's stand up for their pocketbooks and vote no on this resolution. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey reserves. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. weber: thank you, mr. speaker. it's interesting for me to hear my colleagues across the aisle as an owner of an air conditioning company that dealt not just air conditioning but

convenience stores that had walk-in coolers and furnaces and air conditioners. what they don't realize, i get that they speak from inexperience. i'll give them that. what they don't realize is that when something like this is mandated, first of all those businesses usually operate on a very, very thin margin. it could be 1.5, to 2, sometimes 3% of profit. i know from experience. when something like this has to be done, even a small walk-in cooler, let's pick some figures, say it costs $5,000 to $6,000. but the plumbing and the electrical and carpentry and permits, everything costs $10,000 to $12,000. now they have a choice. you are either going to pass that on to their consumers in higher food prices or continue to pay an extra $10 or $20 a month in electricity. that's what's going to happen they don't realize. what they are wanting to do is mandate that businesses have to increase their expenses at the expense of the consumers because they are the ones that's going

to pay for that. i've watched this for a long time. i realize they speak from inexperience and i'll leave it at that, mr. speaker, for the time being, and i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. can i ask the gentleman from texas, are you prepared to close? or you have more speakers? mr. weber: we are prepared to close. thank you. mr. pallone: all right. then i'll do the same. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker. again, i rise in opposition to this resolution. republicans make it sound like no one supports these standards. like they came out of nowhere and are an incredible government overreach. but of course that's not true. manufacturers support these fshtsy standards -- efficiency standards. they provide clarity to industry. manufacturers support the department of energy's rule because it provides clear guidance and if this rule is revoked, it creates regulatory uncertainty for manufacturers. the department of energy worked

with manufacturers and advocates to ensure that these standards were feasible and justifiable. unlike my colleagues across the aisle, the department of energy went through a prolonged process that engaged extensively with experts and worked to address their concerns. in fact, in recently submitted comments regarding the delay in the effective date for the standards, the air conditioning, heating and refrigeration institute, a trade group that represents many of the manufacturers of these walk-in coolers, asserted strong support for proceeding with the standards as published in the federal register in december of last year. and a manufacturer of these walk-in systems also submitted comments asserting support for proceeding with the standards as finalized. those comments also state that the final rule, i quote, provides regulatory predictability regarding energy conservation standards for 2031, providing a stable planning horizon. these comments are an important remind that are regulatory

uncertainty -- reminder that regulatory uncertainty from killing a standard like this would do costs businesses money. my colleagues across the aisle are more concerned with slashing any and every regulation they can find than with engaging in thoughtful and well-reasoned policy. and again, this is politics at its worst. so i oppose this resolution but i also want to point out, mr. speaker, that my colleagues across the aisle keep talking about the cost of these standards to businesses. but i think it's important to get the facts straight. the new standards for walk-in coolers don't go into effect until 2027 for some products and 2028 for others. this means that if a business needs to replace these units any time in the next couple of years, the products on the market now will be available to them. so they don't have to get rid of the refrigerators they want when they buy a new one. whenever a business does need to replace the units, the products on the market will save them money. specifically these standards will save, as i mentioned, $6.5

billion in utility bills over 30 years. and d.o.e. estimates the payback period for these products is three years for refrigerator systems and 1.6 years for nondisplay doors. you're actually saving money every year. this means that after the fist couple of years of ownership, these products start saving businesses a lot of money. and this is real money, you know, the republicans talked about up-front s coulds. there -- up-front costs. there may be some up-front costs but after those first couple of years you're saving money. if republicans are actually concerned about the small businesses in their communities, and if they were really concerned about costs being passed down to consumers, they would be standing up to the trump administration and pushing back on tariffs. i'm mentioning the tariffs today because the president again is starting to impose new tariffs, the last one i guess was on

automobiles. large appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines rely on steel, making them extremely vul american to price in-- vulnerable to price increases from trump's tariffs on steel which are already in place. in the aftermath of steel and. mr. ayotte: leum numb -- and aluminum tariffs in his first term, there were price increases of 5% and 10%. if you're concerned about the prices, you should be speaking out against what trump is doing with these tariffs. not to mention the fact that not only the tariffs impose additional costs on consumers, but he's, again, the uncertainty. back and forth, back and forth. put the tariffs on, take the tariffs off, put the tariffs on, take the tariffs off. it's the reason the stock market has been so volatile. because, you know, people don't know with certainty what's going on with this administration. so we're facing policies from the trump administration that will increase everyday costs for households and businesses, instead of trying to fight these increases, republicans are more

concerned with the up-front costs of walk-in coolers in 2028. i mean, i don't know what to say except that it's ridiculous and with that, mr. speaker, i urge opposition to this resolution and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey yields back. the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. weber: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm going to make it short and sweet. i urge everybody to vote for h.j.res. 24 and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas yields. all time for debate having expired, pursuant to house resolution 242, the previous question is ordered on the joint resolution. the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the joint resolution. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, the a.i.s have it. third reading -- the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: congressional disapproval under chapter of 8 title 50, united states cold -- 5, united states code, of the rule submitted by the office of energy efficiency and renewable

energy relating to freezers and walk-in refrigerators. the speaker pro tempore: those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the a.i.s have it. the joints remain -- ayes have it. the joint resolution is passed. mr. pallone: mr. speaker, i would ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20, this 15-minute vote on passage will be followed by a two-minute vote on passage of -- all right. pursuant to clause 9 of rule 20rbgs this 15-minute vote on passage will be followed by a five-minute vote on passage of house joint resolution 75. this is a 15-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of

representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 203, the nays are 182. the joint resolution is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the unfinished business is the vote on on passage of house

joint resolution 75 on which the yeas and nays are ordered. the clerk will report the title of the joint resolution. the clerk: house joint resolution 75. joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, united states code, of the rules submitted by the office of energy efficiency and renewable energy, department of energy relating to, energy conservation program, energy conservation standards for commercial refrigerators, freezers and refrigerator-freezers. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on passage of the joint resolution. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 214, the nays are 193. the motion passes.

the joint resolution is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. pursuant to house resolution 242 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole on the state of the union for further consideration of h.r. 1048. will the gentleman from california, mr. obernotle, kindly take the chair. the chair: the house is in the committee of the whole house on the state of t union for the further consideration of h.r. 1408 which the clerk will -- 1048 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: union calendar number 9. h.r. 1048. a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965, to

strengthen disclosure requirements relating to foreign gifts and contracts, to prohibit contracts between institutions of higher education and certain foreign entities in countries of concern and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: when the committee of the -- whoip when -- the chair: when the committee of the whole rose yesterday, a request for a vorded vote -- a recorded vote on amendment number 6 offered by the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. tlaib, had been postponed. pursuant to clause 6 of rule 18, proceedings will now resume on those amendments printed in house resolution 119-38 on which further proceed, were postponed -- proceedings were postponed in the following order. amendment number 3 by mr. scott of virginia. amendment number 4 by mr. self of texas. amendment number 5 by ms. tlaib of michigan. amendment number 6 by ms. tlaib of michigan. the chair will reduce to two minutes the minimum time for any electrickennic -- any electronic vote in this series.

the unfinished business is the request for a recorded vote on amendment number 3 offered by the gentleman from virginia, mrr proceedings were postponed, and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 3 priprinted in house report 119-8 offered by mr. scoft virginia. -- mr. scott of virginia. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for a recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 199. the nays are 214. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 4 printed in house report 119-38, offered by the gentleman from texas, mr. self, on which further proceedings were postponed and the ayes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 4, printed in house report number 118-38. offered by mr. self of texas. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having

arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 92. the nays are 321. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is request for recorded vote on amendment number 5 printed in house report 119-38. offered by the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. tlaib, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voice vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment.

the clerk: amendment number 5, printed in report number 119-38. offered by ms. tlaib of michigan. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote the is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the chair: on this vote the yeas are 3.

the nays are 410. the amendment is not adopted. the unfinished business is the request for recorded vote on amendment number 6 printed in house report 119-38, offered by the gentlewoman from michigan, ms. tlaib, on which further proceedings were postponed and on which the noes prevailed by voit vote. the clerk will redesignate the amendment. the clerk: amendment number 6 printed in house report number 119-38. offered by ms. tlaib of michigan. the chair: a recorded vote has been requested. those in support of the request for recorded vote will rise and be counted. a sufficient number having arisen, a recorded vote is ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a two-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are four, the nays are 404 with one answering present. the amendment is not adopted.

there being no further amendments, under the rule, the committee rises. the speaker pro tempore: mr. chairman. the chair: mr. speaker, the committee of the whole house on the state of the union has had under consideration h.r. 1048 and pursuant to house resolution 242 i report the bill as amended by that resolution back to the house with sundry further amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. the speaker pro tempore: the chair of the committee of the whole house on the state of the union reports that the committee has had under consideration the

bill h.r. 1048, and pursuant to house resolution 242 reports the bill as amended by that resolution back to the house with sundry further amendments adopted in the committee of the whole. under the rule, the previous question is ordered. is a separate vote demanded on any further amendment reported from the committee of the whole? if not, the chair will put them engrols -- en gros. the question is on the adoption of the amendments. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the amendments are adopted. the question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. third reading. the clerk: a bill to amend the higher education act of 1965, to strengthen disclosure requirements relating to foreign

contracts to prohibit contracts between higher education and certain foreign entities in countries of concern and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the passage of the bill. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the bill is passed. and without objection -- for what purpose does the gentleman rise? mr. scott: mr. speaker, i ask for the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. members will record their votes by electronic device. this is a five mississippi vote. -- five-minute vote. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 241, the nays are 169. the bill is passed. without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that when the house adjourns today, it adjourn to meet at noon on monday next for morning hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? youcef nadarkhani mr. speaker, i ask -- mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house out of order for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, it is with a heavy heart that i rise today alongside my colleagues in the new york delegation and many of her other cherished colleagues to mourn the loss of a giant of the house and a trailblazer for women in public service, chairwoman nita lowey. for more than three decades, she represented her constituents in westchester and rockland counties with unwavering dedication, fierce advocacy and an unbreakable spirit. as the first woman to serve as chair of the appropriations committee, nita shattered glass ceilings with dignity and determination. as the former dean of the new york delegation, nita fought

tirelessly to secure resources for the empire state. leading the charge after september 11, superstorm sandy and the covid-19 pandemic. her commitment to global security and education also left an indelible mark beyond our borders. as the top democrat on the subcommittee on state and foreign operations, she championed critical global health and education initiatives. nita was more than a colleague. she was a mentor and a friend to many of us. she was a voice of compassion and reason. she believed in the power of government to do good. and her legacy will endure through the lives she touched and the barriers she broke. meijer memory be a blessing -- may her memory be a blessing. you now yield one minute to -- i now yield one minute to the gentleman from new york, my colleague, mr. lawler. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lawler: thank you, representative nadler. today i rise to honor the remarkable career and lasting

legacy of congresswoman nita lowey. as the first woman to chair the house appropriations committee, she shattered barriers and paved the way for so many others during her 32 years in the house of representatives. nita was a tireless advocate for the hudson valley and she was committed to getting things done on behalf of her community. along with congressman latimer, we now represent portions of the district she once served. i know i speak for george in saying that we're proud to follow in her foot steps. her commitment to bipartisanship is something i've tried to carry forward in her honor. nita knew that real solutions come from working across the aisle. and her ability to build consensus led to critical investments in education, health care and infrastructure that benefited new yorkers and americans across our country. i thank nita lowey for her extraordinary leadership and her unwavering belief in a better future for all americans. meijer memory be -- may her memory be a blessing, especially

for her husband, steven, her children and her beloved grandchildren. nita will be sorely missed. i yield back to my colleague from new york. mr. nadler: mr. speaker, i thank congressman lawler for those kind words. mr. speaker, i now ask that all members and staff throughout the capitol rise for a moment of silence in remembrance of chairwoman nita lowey. meijer memory -- may her memory be a blessing.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. for what purpose does the gentleman from utah seek recognition? mr.ens: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to speak out of order. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. owens: today we'll remember

and honor a trailblazer, a leader, and dear friend. mia love. she made history as utah's first black mayor and first black republican woman elected to congress. but impact went far further than those titles. she was a fierce advocate, a tower servant, and bright light. brought passion energy, and unwavering commitment to the people of utah's 4th district. a district i'm now proud to serve. she led with grace and conviction. never backing down from a challenge and always striving to make a difference to those who served. it is for me a profound honor to follow in her footsteps. her legacy is one of faith, courage, love, and highlight of her life, her husband and her family. all fitting for a woman whose name said it a while we grieve her loss and celebrate her life

well lived and mission well served. and a friend deeply missed. our utah community's mourn for the love family. we pray they find peace in the heavenly father's love and come fort and solace in what mia has meant to all of us. now, please rise for a moment of silence. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will now entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. last year the e.p.a. finalized

the rule which set aggressive emission standards for vehicles amounting to a de facto e.v. mandate. mr. walberg: while i'm not against e.v.'s, certainly against reducing against emissions. we must not push misguided regulation that is limit consumer choice, burden the auto industry, and increase relines on china. president trump recently issued an executive order to eliminate the e.v. mandate. demonstrating his commitment to repealing excessive regulations. however, we must take further steps to prevent future administrations from issuing similar mandates. that's why i partnered with representative full mucher to inter-- fulcher to introduce the choice in automobile retail sales, or the cars act. which will prevent similar e.v. mandates and safeguard americans' freedoms to choose the vehicle that is best for them. we must put consumers back in the driver's seat and ensure the fuhr of the auto industry that

has forged through innovation and not mandates. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: thank you. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from texas seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. johnson: i rise to celebrate the incredible legacy of ms. parker, a trailblazer, fearless advocate, and champion for lgbtq rights in texas and across the nation. as the first openly lgbt y mayor of a major american city, houston, she shattered barriers and showed millions of people that lgbtq americans belong in government and in every part of public life. her work wasn't just about representation. it was about action. she fought for equality, for

fairness, and for a texas where everyone no matter who they love has the opportunity to thrive. through her leadership at the lgbtq victory fund, she helped elect and empower leaders at every level of government. it is because of her leadership that the next generation of lgbtq americans has more seats at the table, more voices in the conversation, and more hope for the future. thank you for your service, your courage, and your unwavering commitment to justice. texas and our nation are better because of you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? mr. lawler: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. lawler: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life of gia deborah gentile, a remarkable young woman from hawthorne, new

york, who tragically passed away on march 9 at just 14 after brave and tireless battle with neuro blastoma. though her life was far too short, her legacy is one of kindness, compassion, and selfless service. whether it was through her role on the student council, her leadership on the west lake high school varsity cheer team, or her dedication to the service club she led by example. always putting others before herself and inspiring those around her. even while facing the most difficult of challenges, her heart of gold never waiverred. she continued to serve and support others embodying a spirit of positivity, empathy, and again rossity the that touched everyone -- again rossity that touched everyone she encountered. as her parents and siblings continue to grieve this unimaginable loss, we keep them in our thoughts and prayers. her memory will forever shine brightly in the hearts of all who were blessed to know her.

may gia rest in peace. and may we all strive to live each day in the spirit of kindness that she exemplified. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from minnesota seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. morrison:: thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to voice a concern for my constituents jeff and bev. last week's trumps' billionaire commerce secretary was speaking with another billionaire about how only fraudsters would complain about missing a social security check. trump's billionaire commerce secretary said that if social security didn't send out checks for a month, his mother simply would not call to complain. at the very same time i held a town hall with my constituents where jeff and bev from bloomington asked this question.

if or when trump ends social security, bev and i will be unable to pay our mortgage. we will weekend forecast homeless at age 70. what can we do? what should we do? there are tens of billions of americans across the country like jeff and bev who depend on that check coming every month. so on their behalf i ask my republican colleagues who have majority rule of this chamber, what are you going to do to stand up for american families and stop the billionaires who are dismantling social security? thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from georgia seek recognition in mr. carter: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. carter: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the life of tiffany cooper, a beloved wife, mother, and teacher who recently passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.

she was a remarkable loving, kind, and faithful woman. she embodied patience and grace and was known for lifting the spirits of those around her with her warm heart and general spirit. after graduate interesting the university of georgia and earning her masters in specialist degreeses, she became an educator who poured her heart into her students. as a devoted christian her love for the lord was the center of all she did. she dedicated her time and energy to serving others, including leading the christians on campus group at long county high school. at the center of her life was her family. oven saying that her greatest accomplishment was her two children. she gave them a foundation built on family values knowing that those values would guide them through life's challenges. her life will continue to inspire all who were blessed to know her. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for

what purpose does the gentlewoman from pennsylvania seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. dean: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, more than 17 million seniors live on less than $30,000 a year. yet republicans look to weaken or sever lifelines like medicaid, medicare, social security is. president trump announced abelian to fire 12% of social security employees. close 26 offices. slash phone services. commerce secretary howard lutnick recently said, his family wouldn't complain about missing a social security check. and that the only people who are fraudsters. well, mr. lutnick's family might be able to afford to lose a payment or two. but most americans cannot. this is their money. americans pay for these programs. these are earned benefits. people are afraid and rightfully so.

they are calling, texting, emailing, and stopping me on the street. so on behalf of my constituents, seniors, americans with disabilities, working families, i have a message, mr. speaker, for president trump and his incompetent billionaire buddies. hell no. our seniors are not the fraudsters. you are. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: reminded to refrain from minimum waging in personalities towards the president. from engaging in personalities towards the president. for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek recognition? >> i seek unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. bean: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, did you know that more than three million americans, some only 18, 19, 20 years old served in vietnam?

each one had a duty to serve, but our duty, mr. speaker, is to remember. so on march 29, national vietnam veterans day, we remember the brave americans who served, including the 26,900 vietnam veterans who call the 4th congressional district of florida home. we remember the 58,000 patriots who never returned home safely to the warm embrace of their families. today their names are hauntingly etched into the two faces of black granite in our nation's capital known simply as, the wall. a replica of this very wall, almost 300 feet long, will be on display in my district from april 17 to april 21, 2025, at the northeast florida fair grounds in gnaw saw county, florida. this will be a unique and moving opportunity for individuals to come see the names of their loved ones and patriots who

otherwise may not be able to make it to washington, d.c. mr. speaker, we remember the 150,000 who were wounded in battle and bare the visible scars of posttraumatic stress and agent orange exposure. we remember those who face brutal captivity as prisoners of war and the 1,200 service members still missing in action from vietnam. mr. speaker, we may never be able to repay our debt to those who have given the last measure of devotion for the spirit of america, but we can continue to do our duty to remember. mr. speaker, on national vietnam veterans day and every day, we, the people of the united states, with a grateful heart salute those who endured great dangers at the hands of the enemy and lost in service to our nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous

consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> will he elon musk spent $277 million supporting donald trump's campaign. in return trump has done all he can to support musk's biz ventures. awarding billions in potential contracts to tesla and spacex. he turned the white house lawn into a tesla show room to boost tesla sales. commerce secretary howard lutnick, whose investment firm owns hundreds of millions of tesla stock went on national tv to increase the sagging stock price. and our own colleague, ms. taylor greene, spent thousands of dollars buying tesla stock this year and tried to weaponize the d.o.j. to help increase tesla sales. this is all blatantly unethical and much is illegal. at the same time ms. greene's doge committee following the example of elon musk in february is calling for the defunding of npr and pbs. yes, elon and marjorie taylor greene are trying to kill elmo. here's the thing, public

broadcasting receives just a tiny fraction of funding compared to the government contracts elon stands to gain. in fact, if you take away the new military contract freshish trucks alone, you would pay for all of pbs and npr. and unlike cyber trucks, pbs and npr won't get recalled because their falling apart. what is happening right now pure bait and switch, republicans are trying to slash medicaid and public schools and programs like pbs so they can give billions to elon musk and his fellow oligarchs. the corruption we are seeing right now is outrageous, unprecedent, and cannot stand. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to refrain from engaging in personalities towards the president. for what purpose for what purpose does the gentleman from missouri seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burlison: i rise to honor

don angleson who was taken from us far too soon in an accident on his beloved family farm, a place that reflected the hard work and dedication that defined his life. he was a devoted husband to kristen and a loeing father to his six children, hudson, harper hope, and hattie. a proud graduate of university of missouri, he built a distinguished 27-year career in financial services. he served his community with the springfield club for over 20 years raising funds for children's charities and found joy in working the land on his farm. a man of deep faith, unwavering integrity and a sense of humor that could brighten any room, don had a unique ability to connect with people from all walks of life my prayers are with the angel family and my don's legacy continue to inspire us all. thank you.

i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? >> request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for one minn. ms. sykes: i rise to recognize the ohio men's basketball team as champions of the week. they won their third conference in four years when they took down the miami red hawks with a final core of 76-74. entering halftime down 34-36, the zips played hard the second half of the championship game, tied it up with seconds to go and ultimately came out on top for the second year in a row. after losing five seniors at the end of last season, there was some uncertainty about the start

of the season about how successful the zips would be. but the team quickly put all doubts to rest, going into the m.a.c. tournament as the number one seed with a record of 27-6, including a 14-game win streak. congratulations to the akron zips men's basketball team for this jut standing victory. they're an example of why this area is known as the place of champions. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from colorado seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the retirement of colorado springs fire marshal brett lacey. mr. crank: he joined the department in 1992 and he's faithfully served our community for 32 years. marshal lacey was instrumental in helping protect our community

through his leadership in prioritizing structure and vegetation management as he established a nationally renowned wildfire mitigation program. marshal lacey was on site and led the efforts to combat the wall tore of canyon fire and save my own home and thousands of o's in the black forest fire, that devastated our community. in addition to helping recover victims of hurricane katrina. mr. speaker, i ask that my colleagues join me in congratulating and thanking fire marshal brett lacey for his service to our country and to the pikes peak region. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute.

ms. guillen: i rise to congratulate the -- ms. gillen: i rise to congratulate the women's basketball team for their championship. i celebrate these young athletes for their dedication, teamwork, perseverance and their dominance on the basketball cord. this year's championship mark baldwin's third straight title in school history, a to testament to the strong foundation built by the players, coaches and administrators both past and present. congratulations to the lady bruins on their remarkable victory. i know you'll continue to make nassau county proud. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida seek reck necessary? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute.

>> miss march madness. with america fix sated on basketball, i reck -- recognize the palm bay girl's basketball team. they captured the state's 4-a state championship here in florida. the pilots overcame a tough american heritage squad where they rallied from a 14-point deficit to win the state title leading the way was senior guard jada civil, a university of tennessee commit and mcdonell's all american who grabbed nine rebounds and scored 20 points. the entire team made critical contribution, showcasing their depth and the unity of this team. the championship cap office a season where the pirates won by an average of 57 points. to the entire palm bay pirates team, congratulations you've made our entire community proud. i yield back, mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without

objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. vinedman: i rise to congratulation constituent of the week rick sherman. for over century the w.a. sherman company has been a cornerstone of orange county that's provided essential electrical, heating and and plumbing service to the community, pass down through generations, the sherman family's company has made a lasting impact on local families and leadership. rick your leadership are truly deserving of this recognition. as your representative in congress i'm grateful for the work you do each day to strengthen our local community and serve the people orange county. congratulations again on this well-earned award. it's a privilege to highlight your story on the floor of the u.s. house. i'm thankful for all you do. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from montana seek recognition?

>> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. downing: i rise to recognize colter lunway who earned the status of eagle scout. i watched colter from a young boy get involved in his community and do things that matter not just to his community but to the state of montana. colter hails from immigrant, montana, and can now count himself among the 11 other boy who was achieved the ohonor since troop 551 began in 1984. those who know him best attest to his humility and work ethic, saying, and i'm quote, all he does is rise in the morning and put forth more effort and hard work before noon than most of his age do in a full day. his eagle scout project was to replace a retaining wall at the fire department in gardner, montana. the arranged the preconstruction meet, organized delivery of the

supplies and was able to get a price reduction to save money he rallied his football team and troop to replace the wall. colter, you made your country and your state proud. thank you for setting an example for your peers and your community. congratulations on this great achievement. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from ohio seek recognition? ms. kaptur: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. kaptur: thank you. mr. speaker, today i rise in disbelief at the troubling stories "the atlantic" magazine of classified attack plans carelessly leaked by the u.s. department of defense in reckless and dangerous fashion. congress must conduct full, independent, public and private congressional hearings, the

highest national security and intelligence leaders of our nation put american service members' lives at high risk. all responsible must be held fully accountable including through removal or resignation from their positions. these include secretary of defense pete hegseth, c.i.a. director ratcliff, director of national intelligence gabbard, secretary of state rubio, national security adviser waltz, chief of staphyles and vice president vance who are among those who were involved in the plans shared against d.o.d. policy on signal group chat on nonsecure devices. the chat included a reporter. only lady luck graced the operation, as our service members could have ended up at the bottom of the red sea.

their recklessness risked our marine corps lives and security. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana seek recognition? >> i rise and ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize the outstanding life and public service record of dekalb county commissioner mike watson. mr. stutzman: mike dedicated his life to serving indiana in roles from the president of economic development commission, president of the dekalb central foundation and serving as auburn common councilman in. december before his passing, mike received the county commissioner of the year award from the indiana county commissioners association. mike was the architect of many projects that bettered our region such as having the auburn waterloo trail become part of the pokebosh trail.

and the creation of the auburn main street which collaborates with the auburn community to be an economic driver through promoting and advancing the town's vibrant, historic downtown that's welcoming for all folks. mike will be remembered as an incredibly hard worker, intense advocate for his auburn community and unapologetic family man he put his heart and soul into his work. our community will miss him and his mentorship sorely. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from oregon seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. bynum: mr. speaker, mr. speaker, mr. speaker. i am a woman of faith. i know i am joined in these chambers by fellow believers of all kinds. and today i am reminded of

ezekiel 34:3. a story about the selfishness and greed of shepherds who used their sheep for their own gain. while neglecting their primary duty which is to career in flock. all of us were sent here to lead, to care for and protect our people. so i ask my colleagues, how do you justify making an agreement with farmers and not paying them their money? how do you justify snatching the benefits from veterans who put up their lives and put them on the line for the country? how do you justify the erasure of the underpaid and unpaid laborers who helped build this country? and how do you take from our seniors on social security? you don't, and you can't. believers know that especially in times that require courage, god always has your back. so don't just sit back and watch, dig deep for some courage

and stand up for those who are in need the most. mr. speaker, mr. speaker, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. wilson: thank you, mr. speaker. i am grateful that president donald trump, secretary of education linda mcmahon and congress are working together to return education to the proper original jurisdiction of the states. i support president donald trump's plan to eliminate the department of education, ensuring that education decisions are made by local elected school boards putting students and teachers first. additionally, south carolina has the visionary leadership of the state superintendent ellen weaver and the tradition of dr. barbara nielsen. additionally, house republicans

are protecting institutions of higher education by voting for the deterrent bill introduced by congressman michael bumgarner. foreign adversaries are targeting students by stealing research, limiting free speech and pushing propaganda. as a co-sponsor i'm grateful the act will reduce the foreign gift thresh told, close reporting loophole, require disclosure of foreign gifts and christmas lights at research institution, hold private institutions accountable for their financial partnerships. in condition collusion, god bless our troops as the global war on terrorism continues, open borders for dictators puts all americans at risk of more 9/11 attacks imminent as warned by the f.b.i. president trump is reinstituting existing laws to protect american families with peace through strength. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is

recognized for one minute. mr. subramanyam: mr. speaker, when i recently asked someone who supports gutting the department of education how that decision would make american education better, or what the department even does, they couldn't give me an answer. so let me tell you how gutting this department would hurt every parent, teacher, most of all students in our country. in virginia alone 5,000 teachers would be at risk of removal. our education system would face a $2.4 billion shortfall. and we would lose $2,000 in pending for each student. our most vulnerable students with special needs would be unable to access the resources they need to succeed. and low-income students would go hungry. education has always been a great equalize earn engine for socioeconomic mobility. without the department of education we'll be left with a system that leaves americans, rural, you shalla, be earn suburban, underserved, uneducated, and unprepared. we want to lead in the world in innovation and discovery. we want opportunity for everyone. we need to invest in the next generation. our kids. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the

gentlewoman from north dakota seek recognition? mrs. fedorchak: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. mrs. fedorchak: mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize an extraordinary north dakota woman, elsie ricky. she celebrated her 101st birthday today. but instead of taking the day off, she was no doubt right where she's been for more than 70 years. at her desk in grand forks, north dakota, preparing tax returns by hand with a calculator and typewriter. her work ethic is unmatched. and recently landed her with a page one feature story in the "wall street journal." while tax preparers today rely on software, elsie relies on decades of experience and a deep knowledge of the tax code. this beautiful woman, shown right here, is proof that hard

work and sharp thinking never go out of style. on behalf of all north dakotans, thank you, elsie, for living our values and for showing us what true dedication looks like. most importantly, happy 1 is 0 01st garret, elsie -- 101st birthday, elsie, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from oregon seek recognition? >> i request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to recognize west salem high school for its commitment to inclusivity in sports. ms. salinas: the titans recently earned two national award for their inclusive basketball program. in addition to being named a unified champion school by the special olympics, west was also add add to espn's honor roll, a distinction awarded to only one school in every state per year. their unique program includes

combining gym classes where students with disabilities are paired with other students who can help guide them through activities as well as special equipment and necessary modifications like shorter hoops for athletes using wheelchairs. i am so proud of the students and faculty at west for their dedication to ensuring that every one of their peers can participate and make friends through sports regardless of their abilities. congratulations on these incredible and well deserved achievements. keep up the good work and go titans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new jersey seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, more than 700,000 new jerseyans sent is me here to be their voice in congress and to address the challenges they face each and every day. many of those constituents have sent me messages advocating for what's most important to them.

mr. menendez: thousands have written asking me to protect medicare, social security, and medicaid. hundreds more wrote about the rising cost of childcare and housing. many have asked me to stop the scourge of gun violence in our communities. but not a single person, not one, wrote about loosening regulations on their commercial walk-in coolers and refrigerators. why, then, are those the bills that republicans brought to the floor this week? maybe it's because republicans don't have solutions to the challenges that most americans are facing. maybe it's because the republican budget slashes billions of dollars from medicaid and food assistance for the mouse vulnerable amongst us. maybe that's why they prefer to talk about refrigerators. house democrats on the other hand continue to present an alternative to the -- american people. democrats are ready to lower the cost of childcare by expanding the number of childcare facilities across the country. we are pushing for record new investments and affordable housing and incentives for first

time home buyers. that is what the american people are asking for. and that is what house democrats are fighting for. thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new hampshire seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. pappas: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i rise today because health care through medicaid covering more than 10% of residents and more than 30% of all kids in new hampshire is on the line. their access to lifesaving preventive care, long-term care, mental health, and addiction treatment will be put at risk by the cruel and fiscally reckless budget being proposed by republicans in the house. in addition, new hampshire's medicaid expansion established on a bipartisan basis would end with any decrease in federal funds leaving 68,000 granite staters uninsured and devastating our hospitals and community health centers. i have heard from literally thousands of granite staters on this issue, including a woman who contacted my office and

shared her fears that cuts to medicaid would leave her family homeless. she's a caretaker to two family members and worries they won't be able to survive on one income if they lose their health coverage. i'll continue 20 do everything i can to stop a budget that places the burden of cuts on new hampshire families lakers to finance massive tax breaks to the super rich. i urge my colleagues to stand up against this betrayal of working families and instead focus on how we can work together to make hive -- lifesaver, health y. and more affordable for all americans. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will receive a message. the messenger: mr. speaker, message from the that. the secretary: mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: madam secretary. the secretary: i have been directed by senate to inform the house passed without amendment h.j.res. 25 for disapproval of title 8 united states code of the rules submitted by the internal revenue service relating to gross proceeds reporting by brokers that regularly provide services effectuating digital asset

sales. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from maryland seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> i ride today in support of the fcc's universal service fund. a successful program which brings high speed internet and phone service to millions of underserved americans. mrs. mcclain delaney: this is personal to me. this program is essential for connecting rural and low-income communities, schools, and libraries. effectively bridging the digital divide and expanding access to education, health care, job opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. for the bulk of my career i worked at a children's nonprofit and at the department of commerce ntia advocating to provide affordable high speed indnet to all americans.

particularly children who need it for the homework gap. u.s.f. helps to ensure these communities are not left behind. it empowers students, strengthens local communities, and improves access to essential services for families. in 2023 carriers in maryland received over $6 million in our household in our rural and farm communities. it also in the last two years 1,600 schools 198 loy briarries received over $73 million for kickivity benefiting over one million students. and nearly 37 health care providers in our state receive funding to strengthen connectivity to help patients. today i urge the supreme court and my colleagues in congress to safeguard this incredibly essential program for those who need it most in terms of connectivity and opportunity. thank you. i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from wisconsin seek recognition?

mr. grothman: i ask unanimous consent to speak for one minute. and revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. grothman: thank you. i call upon today to have the trump administration abandon the doctors irk biden-harris 14-c rule. the 14-c rule is with regard to allowing certain people with handicaps to work for under minimum wage. i have toured many what are called the work centers or sheltered work senters in my district in which people who have different abilities are allowed to work maybe spina bifida, maybe down syndrome. i know a guy a quadraplegic, they are allowed to work for under minimum wage. they usually get some other sort of federal subsidy, s.s.i. or something, but by being allowed to work in these places they are able to supplement their income, dignity of work, the socialization of somebody outside their families. i strongly encourage the trump

administration to abandon the drastic biden-harris 14-c rule. i encourage all my colleagues in the u.s. congress to tour some of their own sheltered workshops where you can see how valuable they are in the life of people who are given a little bit less than some of us in some ways to live their life. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you very much, mr. speaker. elon musk's so-called department of government elimination is closing the social security hearing office in white plains in may. mr. lat yammerer: just like that. west chester county ken junkens offered the federal government county space that would be more

cost-effective. the offer was turned down because this isn't about saving the government money. this is about thoughtlessly cutting critical services in the name of ideology. this weekend, commerce secretary lutnick said his 94-year-old mother-in-law wouldn't miss her social security check if it didn't show up. mr. lutnick is a billionaire who can easily provide for her while most other seniors rely on their monthly payment. this weekend more than 250 people in my district voiced their concerns at a rally to save social security. i'll take their word over billionaire's mother-in-law. more than 10,000 of my fellow boomers become eligible every day for social security. this is not the time to be closing offices, cutting staff, and ending phone service. there are ways to make social security more efficient. this ain't one of them. scaring seniors and threatening to end their economic lifelines isn't about efficiency, it is a mockery of efficiency. remember, we told you so.

i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from new york seek recognition? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the binghamton patriots boys basketball team are new york state champions. just like the city they represent. this team was all about grit and determination. in riley: down in the fourth quarter of the championship game, the patriots didn't fold. they fought and took the game into overtime. down in overtime, the patriots didn't fold they fought and took the game into double overtime. and that's when they finished the job. no matter how long the odds, do not ever count out binghamton. to the coach and his coaching staff, the teachers, staff, and administrators, and the students

and players congratulations. thank you for bringing some joy to our community at a time when we really need it. i'll always be a proud union andy scott tiger, today we are all binghamton patriots because there is nothing more unifying than bringing home a state championship. i'm honored to enter the patriots' roster into the across-the-board. thank -- congressional record. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from north carolina seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. .. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. davis: the first congressional district is one of the most economically distressed in nation, however i have good news to share. i was recently honored to join industry, state and community leaders for the ground breaking

of a new over $2 billion state of the art johnson & johnson biologics manufacturing in wilson, north carolina. it will bring specialized jobs paying $109,000 a year into eastern north carolina. the first 10 years of operation are estimated to have an economic impact of $3 billion statewide. johnson & johnson is also committed to investing in local education, stem, work force and research. the new facility will support johnson & johnson's plan to advance transformational medicines for cancer, immune mediated and neurological diseases. the investment will have a huge impact and life-changing for our region. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2025, the

gentleman from texas, mr. green is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. green: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, proudly i stand here today, proudly to say, and still i rise. and still i rise. a proud, liberated democrat, unbought, unbossed, and still unafraid. and still i rise, mr. speaker. not only as a proud liberated democrat, but also, mr. speaker, censured, not silenced.

censured but not silenced. still carrying my cane, which has been called many things. but for me, it provides comfort. it provides comfort because i'm a believer in the 23rd psalm, that part about, yea, though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil, buzz thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. this is my comfort. mr. speaker, there are people who don't believe that i should have the free speech that the constitution affords me. and i'm not always in the company of people who can protect me. so, my cane has become my staff and my rod that comforts me, mr. speaker. i wish it were different, but it's not. we seem to live in a society now

where, if you're willing to speak truth to power, there are consequences beyond simply having those who differ with you give their reports -- retorts. there are some who want to do more than give retorts. we have to find ways to comfort ourselves when we no longer have those who are assigned the responsibility of providing us comfort. protection. is another way of saying comfort. and mr. speaker, i rise today because i want to expose what has been called to our attention in many different ways over the last many hours. mr. speaker, we are at this moment in our country engaging in a big lie coverup. it is a part of a chat gate a

big lie coverup. chat-gate, mr. speaker, is a security breach, not defined as such because the person who would define it as such if he should do so, would inculpate himself. so the secretary of defense, who has the responsibility of defining whether certain information is classified or not chooses not to define that which is intuitively obvious as classified. he chooses not to define it as classified. he does not want to inculpate himself. so he has the ability to exculpate himself by simply saying, something that clearly is classified, saying that it is not. mr. speaker, while he can say so, i think the american public

will have the final word. and will be the final judge. i'm honored to tell you who the players are in this coverup. one person is, quite frankly, a person who merits a lot of accolades, a person who ought to be acknowledged for the courage that he has demonstrated, a person who brought this to the attention of the public. a person who had no desire to be a part of this coverup, but he is only there in that he was the person who, in a sense, acts as a whistleblower. i'm talking about mr. goldberg with "the atlantic magazine." mr. goldberg is a person who had messages sent to him that he did not seek, that he did not ask for, according to the reports that i have read and you have

probably seen and heard televised. he was there minding his own business, when he began receiving messages, messages intended for a specific group of people, many of whom i'll name in a moment. in receive these messages, he was made privy to information that should not have been exposed to the public in the opinion of many experts. should not have been exposed to the public. i will read some of the information that was captured by mr. goldberg. mr. goldberg captured this, and this comes from "the atlantic" magazine. they published this information. it has been made public. my belief is that the persons who engaged in this coverup had no desire to have this published

but once it was, they -- there was a decision made by the person who had the power to do so to say well, it's simply not classified information. so no big deal. well, here's the big deal. this information, according to mr. goldberg, he indicates that at 11:44 a.m. eastern time, he gives the name of the person, it's a secretary of defense, hegseth, posted in the chat, in all cap, and this is the quote. team update. then, mr. goldberg indicates, the text beneath this began, time now 11:44e.t. weather is favorable. just confirmed with -- it says w, with sent come, we are a

go -- with centcom washington go for mission launch. we are a go more mission launch. let's go on. these are excerpts, i shall not read it all. next comment in quotes, reads, 12:15e.t. f-18's launched. first strike package. and thereafter, 14:10. more f-18's launched. second strike passage. -- package. thereafter, 15:36. f-18 second strike starts. also first sea-based tomahawks launched. now, all of this was intend forward select group of people.

it was not intended that this be published. but since it has been published, the secretary of defense has indicated that this was not classified information. now if the secretary of defense, who was a participant in this chat, in what i'm calling chat-gate if the secretary of defense sincerely believes that this is not classified information, and there's more of it, i'm -- i've only read you some excerpts. if he sincerely believes this, then he is not the person who should be charged with the responsibility of making a decision as to whether this type of information is classified. because there is no way a person who has intelligence at heart and an understanding of it within the mind to conclude that

this is not classified information. too many experts differ with him. we had persons who are on the intelligence committee in the house to indicate that this was clearly classified information. in fact indicated that things that are less serious in nature have been classified. but the secretary of defense has the ability to exculpate himself. so his exculpatory statement is that this is not classified information. i believe that if any other person beneath the secretary of state had allowed such information, same information, to be exposed to the public, i don't think the secretary of state would have come to the same conclusion. the secretary of state has sacrificed his honor and his dignity by indicating that this is not classified information. but he didn't do it without the

aid and comfort of some others. let's just talk about the other people who were on this call, pardon me this chat with the secretary of state. weed that add the vice president of the united states of america. a part of the chat. now, i don't believe that the secretary of defense and the vice president of the united states would get on a chat and have this type of information that i call to your attention, much more available, would get on a chat and have this be exposed to the public. there was no desire that it be exposed to the public. they said it's sensitive information. well, it is sensitive. pause it's classified information that has not been declared such because it would inculpate the defense secretary. so you have the vice president of the united states on the chat. then you have the c.i.a.

director. vice president of the united states. secretary of defense. c.i.a. director. and this is not classified information that they're discussing. just having a little talk. that could be exposed to the public but chose not to, but for it having been sent to mr. goldberg. mr. goldberg, by the way, deserves a congressional medal of honor. he is the hero in this story. he is the person who has had the courage and also the wisdom and insight to understand understand that before you release this you need to do some checking. so he did his due diligence before releasing information. but mr. goldberg, the person who released it, has been called many names by people who would not have him release the information.

mr. goldberg has been scorned. he is a person who called tour attention something that was done improperly and yet he's being made the villain. he's not the villain. he's the hero in this process. and he ought to be acknowledged as such. i am going to have a flag flown over the capitol of the united states of america in honor of mr. goldberg. for what he has done. i will not allow his reputation to be tarnished without a fight to protect it. aisle going to do what i can to protect his reputation. so we have the director of national intelligence on the call. on the chat. director of national intelligence. the secretary of state. on the chat. again, the defense secretary. the vice president. the c.i.a. director. the director of national

intelligence. my god. also special envoy wit cough was on there -- witkoff was on there. by the way, he was in russia at the time he was on. we all know that you should not be on an unsecured line in you're going to be in russia talking. those of us who have been to russia are very much aware. and of course the secretary of state. these are the players. all of them on a chat and all of them engaged in the coverup of this big lie. a coverup. a coverup because they all have at one time or another implied or stated explicitly that this was not classified.

. because he had to protect himself and to do that he declassified what should have been classified. he avoided being inculpated by declassifying this information that should have been classified. this is egregious. usually the cover-up is nor egregious than the action that precipitated the cover-up. true. but there is something that occurred here that's more egregious than the action that precipitated the cover-up than the cover-up itself, and that thing is the ability of all of these actors to do this and

commit any federal crime with impunity. and as a matter of fact, we could say with immunity. these factors, these participants, they all have the blessings of the president of the united states of america. and the president of the united states of america, now under the impression he has absolute immunity, knowing that he's not likely to be prosecuted for anything other than impeachment while he is holding the office of the presidency. knowing this, believing he has absolute immunity, and having already demonstrated that he will accord connerration by way of -- exoneration by way of pardon who would assault the capitol of the united states of america. and he, the president of the

united states use his awesome pardon power, the awesome power accorded him by the good faith of the constitution of the united states of america. he uses it to release and to a certain extent to exonerate -- limited extent, to persons who actually assaulted the capitol. so they now, these participants in this event, they know they've got the president backing them up. they know that even if they commit a federal crime, all the president has to do is pardon them. it's really that simple. you've got a president now who sits on high, understanding that all beneath him, all of his minions, all of his plutocrats and those beneath him have the ability to protect them from the

breaches of the federal law. this is more egregious than the action that precipitated the cover-up and the cover-up itself to know that we now have and ad administration where all of the parties involved can rely on one person to protect them regardless to what they'd do if it is a federal offense. yes, there was a cover-up. yes, that cover-up is something that they understood they could get away with even if they were caught red-handed. they knew they could get away with it because they knew that the president was there to back them. by the way, the president is also there to do what he normally does and that is throw his underlings, his persons who are beneath him, if you will,

throw them under the bus. and he did. threw them under the bus. he doesn't know anything about this. he just happens to have heard about it. now, the president gets briefings on all important issues. but for him to sit and say, i know nothing about it, which is what he always does, then pushes himself under the bus, but he knows he can push them under the bus and extricate them because he has the magic wand, the power to pardon, and he will use it as has been demonstrated by his causing many persons who assaulted the capitol, persons who came here with a gallos and using flags and trying to spray and came in the capitol and defecated. he caused all these persons to be released, if not all, i would

say to you nearly all. i don't have the exact numbers but wept on a rampage and started exonerating those people. and we have a circumstance where people who are trusted with the nation's most sacred secrets, they're so important that they're really sacred, sacred secrets. these persons have demonstrated they will forfeit their dignity, their self-respect, and their honor. they will forfeit these things, these, to protect themselves and to protect the president. themselves and the president. and what we have when this occurs with all of these people doing this, we have now a group

of people who have sacrificed their honor. when you sacrifice your honor in this fashion, the people who serve under you lose respect for you. they lose respect for you. they are men and women, persons in our military who no longer respect the persons who serve in these high and lofty positions. they don't respect them because they are persons with a reasonable amount of intellect, superior intellect, and understand that this whole scenario, this fiasco, this level of buffoonry, they understand that this is not based on truth to say that this was not certified, this was not classified information. it wasn't certified as such but it was classified.

the only reason not certified as such is because the secretary of defense would inculpate himself if he should do so. he would put himself in harm's way, so he chose to keep himself out of harm's way. his cohorts agree with them and they all now are going to content that there's nothing to see here, just a chat between persons who happen to want to discuss sensitive information, and the reporter who reports it, he's the culprit in all of this. the people who serve in our military, they know better, and they know now that the people at the top are not honorable people and has an impact on morale. and don't you think for one second that someone in the military will not at some point in time use the same argument that you're using. they're going to mention how this very incident occurred and

how people just walked away from it unscathed. that's what they will do. people are not going to allow this to be a one-off. if something happens and they should be charged and they believe that this scenario can aid and comfort them with their convince, they will use it -- with their defense, they will use it. we now have at the high levels of government people who have given up their dignity, their self-respect and no longer have the honor and respect of a good many number of people who have to serve under him. mr. speaker, this is a very sad time in the history of our country, very sad. here's a final reason why it's sad. i was silenced, in a sense, when i was shouted down by my colleagues. they shouted me down when i was trying to explain to the

president -- i never called him a name. i merely said to him, you do not have a mandate, you do not have a mandate to cut medicaid. my colleagues were shouting loudly to prevent my voice from being heard, at least that's the way i received it. so i repeated what i said. their voices grew louder. i repeated again and i was removed. i'm not mad at the speaker. i'm not angry with them. i'm not angry with anyone. i was censured for what i did, censured, not silenced. my voice will not be silenced, censured but not silenced. here is the point. what i did, this congress decided -- not all. let me not include everyone.

but all of my colleagues across the aisle and 10 colleagues from this side of the aisle, they decided i should be censured. i hold no animus towards any of them. i want to make a point. the president of the united states and his men and women are now going to perpetuate this cover-up and walk away unscathed except for loss of dignity, self-respect, and honor. mr. speaker, i would rather be censured than lose my dignity, my sacrifice, my self-respect. i admitted what i did intentionally. they won't admit that they were on this -- in this chat and that it should have been in a much more secured location. they won't admit it. they don't have the self-respect

and the dignity to just tell the truth about what happened. i admit it. that i did it intentionally. i said, when you do things and you do them with intent and if it's a form of protest in my case, then you've got to be prepared to suffer the consequences. i've been prepared to suffer the consequences. you don't have to agree with the consequences you suffer, but you have to be prepared. they chose not to be prepared, chose not to suffer any consequences by covering up with a big lie. i respect mr. castro. i saw him when he questioned those persons who were before him yesterday. and when he questioned them about this. he called each name, dear

brother castro, dear congressman, i have such great respect for you. you have the courage to tell them to their faces that they were lying. it takes courage to do what he did. courage is what's missing. you've got to have courage if you want to make big change. you've got to be willing to stand and say, as he did. this is not to say others did not deliver great commentary. i single him out because of the way he did what he did and in the presence of the people. he didn't wait until he was out behind their backs to say what he said. he said it in front of their faces. and in my neck of the woods when you tell something to someone to their face or his face or their face, that says something about you as a person. this is why i wanted to tell the president to his face, don't

have the mandate to cut medicaid and medicare, by the way, as well, and social security. he doesn't. so all of this, all of this, this censure of a person for speaking out against the president who, by the way, on that same evening called democrats lunatics, no censure of the president, no reprimand, nothing said from the house, just the president being himself. others, on the other hand, can be censured for calling things to the president's attention. i'm also the only person to have ever been removed, evicted, from a joint session of congress. the only one. i'm only saying this because i don't want anyone to believe

that this censure and this eviction is the end of the story. it's just not. and i'm grateful to all of those who have been kind to me and the well wishes i've received and all of the persons who have indicated that they would have me speak at various events. i'm grateful to you. but i want you to know that the story does not end with a censure. just as the story with these persons who engaged in this cover-up, it will not end with them simply saying this was not classified information. it will not. the story is still being unfolded, still being told. .. in the end, posterity will judge us all. the truth is nope. the truth will be known. at some point, someone is going

to reveal even more information about what happened on that chat. it will happen. maybe not now. maybe not this year. but at some point in time, the story is going to be told. and all of them will have to face a shame, a shaming, that they have tried to avoid by contending that classified information was not such. you can't get away with this kind of thing. the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. what you have done was unjust and it will be told, the story will be told truthfully. i close with this. we who are given the honor of serving, we have been accorded the trust of the public. it is said that we hold public trust. and when we hold public trust, and we make mistakes, believe it or not, you can say you made a

mistake. or you can say, i didn't make a mistake, i did this intentionally and i'm going to suffer consequence, i'm prepared, i may not agree with them but i'm prepared. we hold public trust. those persons who participated in this coverup are not persons worthy of holding public trust. so mr. secretary of defense, you, sir, should not hold public trust. you are not the person to determine whether something is classified or not. you have demonstrated wittingly or unwittingly that you are not capable of doing it. you just don't have what it takes within to speak the truth when you have committed a transgression. you shouldn't hold public trust.

sir, you should do the honorable thing. you should resign. and if you don't resign, the people of this country, notwithstanding all that the president has in terms of his power. notwithstanding all of this power, the people of this country, we the people, will have the last word. and you're going to see protests. you're going to see more protests. because we the people refuse to allow coverups to go unnoticed. you're going to see more protests. but i say to everybody, make it a peaceful protest. do not protest in any way other than with peace. in your mind and your head and your heart. peaceful protests. peaceful protests can make a difference. it made a difference for the farmers when they came here with tractor cade and protested their farmlands being foreclosed on. made a difference when the

military veterans came to washington, d.c., to protest the bonuses that they were promised. made a difference when dr. king came here and stood on the mall and read the gentleman yields back the balance of his time i have a dream, actually he didn't read it. he actually stated it. his, i have a dream speech. when he gave that i have a dream message. it makes a difference. peace. prof. -- peaceful protest makes a difference. it is as american as the pilgrims landing at plymouth rock. peaceful protest will continue. i will be a part of it. and if i should get in the way as john lewis says it, i will be prepared to suffer the consequences but i refuse to give up my right to protest and we the people will have the last word. i yield back the plans of my time. the speaker pro tempore: members are reminded to address their remarks to the chair. under the speaker's announced

policy of january 3, 2025, the gentleman from california, mr. lamalfa is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. speaker. appreciate the opportunity here as we conclude the week. i wanted to take the time today to highlight some of the work that we're doing in the western caucus. made up of over 90 members of the u.s. house of representatives. and have been privileged -- i've been privileged to become the chair of that group this year. so chairing the committee, i geo bring up a lot of key issues on the floor and try to illustrate to the people that are watch that wish to pay attention, how important the issues we are taking up and continue to advance. working with the trump administration, one of the

cornerstones indeed is in energy. we call ourselves the western caucus but the issues are a little beyond the western states. indeed, they're rural issues. they're issues that affect all of our states. and the opportunity to strengthen our entire economy with what we have available. in the western states in rural areas. indeed, our oil and our energy come from many, many parts of the country. the original oil patch was in, actually, western pennsylvania. so we're less about maybe what the real estate is but more about the concepts of advancing rural issues and the ability to extract resources to utilize resources. ecologically soundly. that's -- we're all about that too. so we get -- the u.s. gets a bad reputation sometimes of people in these industries, or misconstrued by environmental groups and such as being against the environment and against

doing things properly. so really, bottom line on that topic is unleashing american energy and our mineral resources, strengthening agriculture and tackling the real challenges facing our country. like the devastating wildfires in the west. are key issues of western caucus faces. one of the things that can help with some of these issues would be modernizing the endangered species act that's been around over 50 years. and i see the futility as it's interpret these days, layer after layer of court decision, lawsuits that basically just hamper the ability for us to do the things we need to do. to have stronger energy availability. have the other resources that are key to a strong economy for our country and not import all these products. indeed with the goals set out at least by some to have further

electricity usage for appliances, which we've talked about this week on this floor, there's requirements. there's people being mandated to change what their appliances are powered by. so when you have a gas-powered stove. gas water heater, on and on. that mandates, whether it's my home state of california or has come through the previous biden administration. this is taking away consumer choices. taking away the best choice for a lot of people for how to power these devices. that extends to automobiles, trucks, if you got it, a truck brought it. that's an important aspect to remember as well. just by merely sweeping away the ability to have gasoline and diesel as california is doing, are trying to do, and the federal government had been until the end of the biden administration, you know, that's going to cost a lot.

going to make it a lot less convenient. a lot more difficult to get raw materials and products from where they're created to where they're needed. so endangered species act is part of the issue that needs to be modernized as well as getting over the lawsuits and litigation that is used as a weapon, whether it's by federal agencies or by so-called n.g.o.'s, environmental groups. so we've been working in this chamber as i mentioned this week to help deliver solutions to lower energy costs, cut red tape, and reversing the biden administration's relentless overreach from blocking costly energy efficiency mandates on consumer products, stopping unnecessary restrictions on american manufacturing and energy production. we want these things manufactured here. by american workers using american technology and american

efficiency. and the cleanliness that comes with it. we're much more efficient. much cleaner, than what happens in china manufacturing. our natural gas in this country is cleaner than russian natural gas. we should be export more of that to europe and helping them out instead of them becoming dependent on the long reputation we've had with russia there. when we're talking about these overreaches by government, by these regulations, it really drives up prices, burdens businesses and makes us more dependent on foreign products, foreign energy, etc. so let's restore american energy dominance, support these industries that put food on the table, and clothing on our book and shelter above us. support them to make our country stronger and more independent. we'll push back against the policies that are failing and harming rural america. i look forward to hearing from think colleagues that some of them will be joining me during

this time here. and what they're working on. as part of our western caucus partnership here. so i've seen a couple of my colleagues have arrived here. i would like to recognize if she's ready, my executive vice chair, celeste maloy, from utah, is with us here and i'm pleased to have her as a partner and friend on the western caucus to inform us on the issues that are particular to utah but also the western states as well. i'm really, really pleased she's stepped up to be in this role here and appreciate her quite a bit. celeste, please take it away. ms. maloy: thank you, mr. chairman. i'm grateful for the opportunity to be here today and i commend my colleagues in the western caucus for their unwavering dedication to preserve the this -- preserving the values andreylyhoods of rural america, the western states, and our

western values that we both represent. today i want to highlight three pieces of legislation that i've introduced, one of them addresses abuses of the antiquities act. one of them addresses the inefficiencies an unfairness of our per miing system and the ore one addresses the need to get geothermal energy up and going more quickly and more efficiently. i'll start with the antiquities act. for decades, the executive branch, presidents of the united states, mostly democrats have used the antiquities act of 1906 to designate vast areas as national monuments. that's an authority that we delegated to them in the 1906 antiquities act. the abuse of that narrow delegative authority has rehave -- resulted in restricted access to lands, hindered economic opportunities and left local voices unhear and frustrated. in my district, the grand staircase escalante was created

by bill clinton over the objections of utah's govern york utah's federal delegation, local, county and state elected official, and those frustrations and scars and wounds have not healed in the years that have passed since then. so my ending presidential overreach on public lands act ensures the decisions of this magnitude affecting public lands are made collaboratively, respecting the role of congress with our jurisdiction over public hand, and -- public land and taking input from local voices. it should be congress that makes those widespread, large scale land management decisions. the next one i want to talk about is the free act which encourages agencies to look at the permits they issue and determine which ones can be done by permit by rule. which means they have a predetermined list of requirements for a permit and firm timelines on making those decisions. so an applicant can bring an

agency everything on that list and the agency can either say yes, this is adequate for a permit and issue the permit, or say it's not adequate for a permit and give the applicant what they need to do to remedy that so that we can permit especially infrastructure projects more quickly. right now it takes years and millions of dollars to permit infrastructure projects, especially in states like utah where most of the land is managed by the federal government, and everything we do has to go through multiple layers of federal processes. lastly, the jeo act addresses the time -- the geo act addresses the time it takes to license geothermal projects. geothermal energy leads in utah. we are developing new geothermal resources. but the time it takes to get the permit to build a geothermal plant is prohibiting us developing some of the resources and getting clean and reliable baseload power online that this

country needs now and will need even more in the future. these bills, all three of them, they're not all of my bills but i want to highlight those three today because they're about safeguarding public lands, fostering economic growth and empowering our communities. they're about letting ranchers, families, small business, and entrepreneurs benefit from thoughtful and responsive government as opposed to government that drowns out their voices and ignore theirs needs. i urge my colleagues to support these measures which offer pragmatic solutions to real -- excuse me. to real challenges in utah, throughout the west and throughout the whole country. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. mr. lamalfa: thank you, ms. maloy. i want to ask you a little bit if you care to, on the antiquities act. i've shared a lot of that frustration as well. the biden administration on the way out the door declared several monument areas, couple in california, one in the ocean

area, and it really seems that it's become down to just being executive action with very little input by congress. i know that's what you're working on in your legislation. . one i can think of, it ends up being about 1,000 square miles of -- a million square miles and it's a giant chunk of ocean not usable for fishing and things like that. and in my home state in my district, they declared almost a quarter million acre area they really had little consultation with the folks there that had a mining operation and the timber management needed to happen.

it has been quite abusive. what do you think over time here the long term effects have been on energy in the west and energy exploration and the types of things we need to be doing? >> restricting the areas that are for use, restricting them from oil and gas exploration, energy production. the original intent of the presidential proclamation authority in the antiquities act was for the president to move quickly and hold it until congress could make a decision. and until the national policy passed it's been the policy of

the federal government we don't dispose of land anymore. that threat has been removed and the need for the president to move quickly no longer exists and the act is being used to create land policy that couldn't get through congress. and the process matters when it comes to land management and we need to take back that authority we gave presidents because they're not using it the way congress intended to use it and we need toned the abuse by using our legislative powers. mr. lamalfa: it's really flipped in one direction on the invoking of a new monument or wilderness area and what have you. i know your state of utah has been hit pretty hard by several. it's not that we're against these measures to protect areas but we're talking about gigantic swaths of land instead of something more focused. the original intent was to focus on the particular historic or

geographic areas, like an old forest area, something like that where there might be native american ruins that we might want to particularly focus but instead we get these gigantic acreages. and i like what you're speaking about on the geothermal process because it should be an all of the above way of looking at things on the type of energies we have available and geothermal is clean power and one that's available 24/7 and you don't have to wait for the wind to blow and sun to come up and clouds to go away. we need a lot more base load power because look what's going on with the tech centers and the amount of a.i. that will be coming aboard and the amount of energy that's going to be consuming, these data centers

are going to use a mass amount of electricity if they're allowed to and they've talked about wanting to do it as renewable, if geothermal could be a source in those areas, that's one thing but we'll have to get real where our power is going to come from because we have to have reliable base load power and geothermal has had a very difficult permitting process. any idea what kind of time line? how many years does it take to get one through if you can get them through? ms. maloy: i don't know what the time line is because it's taking years and should take months. we know what a geothermal power plant looks like and know how to do it in a way that's environmentally sensitive and we're just taking time and money to get to that end point we already know we're headed to. mr. lamalfa: indeed. as another example, there's a copper mine, it's not the same as a geothermal power plant, but one particular one in the west

took 29 years to permit. so when you're talking any kind of thing moving forward on self-sufficiency on minerals or energy dominance the u.s. needs to have, it takes a decade or more, in many cases, to get this done. a desallennation plant along the coast, the poseiden, i think it's called. we can't build water storage in california, it seems, or other areas, so they say desal, you can use the pacific ocean, not until you can permit and do it. they fought for 20 years to work through a permit process and jump through every hoop and what requirement will make them happy to take care of the brine, the landscape itself and after all that time they were still denied by the california coastal commission and others to be able to to do that. permitting needs to be reformed,

not thrown away, because we want a process people can have a say and look at what's happening. but by the same token, we talk about the antiquities act, people need a say as well, not just 2500 miles away in washington, d.c. where the stroke of a pen does it, as ms. maloy mentioned here, local input from their delegation to d.c. basically was ignoreed on national monuments that were done in utah and we didn't hear a whole lot on the one done in california either, it was kind of one-sided and i appreciate you bringing those to the forefront and you're welcome to make any more comment if you wish but we'll move on to western water, too. it's a key issue for agriculture, for hydroelectric, and safety from flood and even

recreation as well as a lot of folks that are wanting more water for fish needs and fish massage and such, they sure enjoy the benefits of having stored water in the western dams or any dams. i point out as an example, this is shasta dam, a federal project built in the 1930's and came online strongly in the early 1940's. this is an amazing project, and indeed, it's the cornerstone of california water, as well as some of the colorado river water forces we have. this is 4.5 million acre-feet in one dam, one lake, in shasta county, california. the way it's operated is extremely important. and we don't have as good decisions being made, at least in my opinion, how the water is stored or kept or how it's

allocated, then people suffer on that, unnecessarily. so right now this lake sits at about, oh, 600,000 acre-feet still to fill it up. and the thing that gets me is that we're seeing farmers and others in the water districts in central california, san joaquin valley, where so much of our important food supply for the whole country comes from, they're stuck at 35% to 40% of what used to be the normal occasion. and part of that is they can't point to -- there's the water supply, now, i think it's a misnomer, there's plenty of water around. and this lake, when it's 4.5 million acre-feet full along with the other lakes, why isn't that allocation closer to 100%? it hasn't reached 100% in a long

time and a lot of that is based on what we talked about a moment here ago, the endangered species act and it's weaponization in the last 50-plus years. it's not a matter of us not caring about species and trying to recover them and conserve them, it's that it's used as a weapon to stop further water storage or the other issues we're talking about, other energy projects and forestry practices that would be helpful to not have continued wildfire at the massive scale we're seeing so much, especially in the western states. so what i want to see happening for lake shasta, for example, is that they can use more scientific forecasting of what the systems of weather are going to be looking like in a given year, in a given season. we're about to end the rainy season as a bureau of reclamation or the army corps of engineers, the army corps is in

charge of flood control and control the top portion of this dam and lake otherville where i live and -- lake orrville where i live and many others and they'll require a certain gap from the top of the dam down, 40 or 50 feet or is so, a particular amount of storage has to be available until the end of the rainy season, which is pretty much april 1. so at that point, you're allowed to fill the lake. the lake can fill on up. over 600,000 acre-feet down and they're assessing the snow pack more or less as i speak. but still another winter pattern coming in here quite soon that would probably enhance that snow pack number as well. so what gets me is we've allowes allowed two million acre-feet to

leave this system since early january and that's flowed from the mississippi river on to the delta. if you want to see delta numbers, it's this poster here isn't quite updated but it illustrates how the water flows down from the north and such and flows through the bay delta out to the ocean. these numbers are a little bit older and when i made my poster but shows a gap at this time line 29 million acre-feet flowed into the delta and down below shows 22 million acre-feet flowed out. that's a heck of a lot of water to lose. that we didn't capture more of. we have an excellent opportunity to do better at that and keep more water for hydroelectric

power and for agriculture, recreation, people's use in the urban areas. there's a bit of a misnomer that people in agriculture use way more water than is the case, of stored water in the state. 50% goes for environmental purpose and 40% and descending goes for agriculture and about 10% for urban and people use. and that's of captured water. and there's about another 50% of the total rainfall and snow pack that falls on the state that flows out to the ocean or other areas that ends up being basically, you could call it environmental water as well because people don't get to use it and it's doing what it does in the rivers and streams and such. so you keep hearing well, these farmers are wasting water and people in the cities have to conserve more and conservation is good, farmers using better practices is good as well. but if you're telling people in the urban areas -- and wait until this happens to them and

they get their attention and are rationed down to 42 gallons per day per person and you see these numbers and see that much water going out to the delta because we have people refusing to build a storage and run the pumps, for example, at the south end of the delta that could be filling up what's known as the san lewis reservoir that hasn't been topped off, but this year under similar snow pack and rain circumstances, they haven't allowed the pumps to run hard enough to fill it. i'm hoping, and here it is, a lot of stuff seems to be based on hope that we can have enough melt into the shasta lake or lake orville and the other large ones that they will fill up and there will be enough water for everybody. but how do you count on having that amount of water, that amount of rainfall in march and april? i've lived there my whole life. you don't always get heavy rains in march and april and that

would help top off these reservoirs. so it is indeed important to california but it's an important western issue and what gets produced in those areas is important to everybody. so i recognize that it's not just california but our entire western issue and why the western caucus will be focusing partly on that. another colleague of mine, mr. nick begich of alaska has joined me here and would like to recognize him on as much time as he may consume on what is going on in alaska and the amazing amounts of resources they have there that this country enjoys and consumes and does so responsibly as well. so thank for you joining us. mr. begich: thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you, mr. i

i rise to discuss the many opportunities of alaska as america's most western state and most eastern state and most northern state, alaska is nearly 20% of united states land mass. we have more than half of the united states' coastline. and it is estimated that we have more undiscovered estimated natural gas and oil resources than any other state in the country. we have nearly every critical mineral on the critical minerals list in alaska. we have base metals. we have precious metals. we have rare earths in abundance. we have incredible timber resources and produce about 60% of america's seafood. alaska is a crucial state and i'm proud to be a member of our house's western caucus. i'm the only member from the state of a alaska. we have about 730,000 people that live in a state that's 2

1/2 times the size of texas. and we are vast, we are independent, and we want to make sure that we have the ability to develop the resources that we've been blessed with. under president trump's leadership, we have seen executived orers that specifically allow for development of our critical minerals, of those air earths that i spoke of, of our natural resources, including tremendous energy resources in anwr and npra and elsewhere. and that is what alaskans want. alaskans want the ability to be independent. to develop their resources responsibly. and to stand on their own two feet. i'm thrilled to be a part of this body, a body that's focused on making sure that alaska's energy resource potential is fully unlocked, that our mineral potential is fully unlocked, that we restore domestic supply chains again.

as we restore those supply chains we know that those supply chains begin with resources and begin with energy to process those resources. alaska is the cornerstone of this strategy. and we are excited to be a part of that conversation. and i look forward to the opportunities that we'll be bringing forward in the 119th congress to advance alaska's interests, our nation's interest and restore domestic manufacturing in this nation again. with that, mr. chairman, i yield back. mr. lamalfa: thank you. appreciate that. with all the rich resources we have in alaska it would be amazing if we can get the permitting process so they produce these rare earths and critical minerals in our country instead of relying on them from adversaries that aren't going to be reliable long-term. i appreciate you bringing that to our attention and the battle, the work you're batting -- battling to do up there. thank you, mr. begich.

let me now recognize from montana, one of our new members here as well, who has half of montana, you don't -- you don't get to have the whole staff -- whole state there anymore, mr. troy downing. indeed, these large states are home of so much rich resources that are important to our country and we're glad to have western caucus membership that is recognizing that. mr. downing. mr. downing: thank you, mr. chairman, for yielding me some time. montana has many mottos, official and unofficial. the last best place. the big sky country. it's the treasure state. and this last one recognizes the rich natural resources we have in the great state of montana right underneath our feet. up until recently, the biden --

excuse me. up until recently, biden's anti-american policies have allowed foreign actors to dominate mineral markets. this has stifled domestic energy production to the detriment of western states like montana. i had the opportunity to return home last week and i heard about these issues firsthand from miners across the second district. in fact, i probably spent more time below ground than i did above it. i actually really enjoyed that. i'm going to talk first about stillwater county. in stillwater county, the mines of the stillwater mine are hard at work producing the only platinum and palladium mined in america. years of feckless trade policy on the part of the biden administration allowed malign foreign actors like russia to flood commodities markets that cripple mines like. this russia, which represents more than a third of the mark, has been subsidizing and dumping these mineral, causing

artificially low prices this. resulting in the layoff of approximately 700 workers, hardworking miners, just last year. had a negative impact from dumping that's not only, you know affected the commodity price. it's made it so that the commodecy ty price is below the actual cost to extract it. the ripple effects are being felt throughout my district. this is why our montana congressional delegation is stepping up. i stand shoulder to should we are congressman zinke, and senators danes and shea hi. we introduced the stop russian market manipulation act. this bans imports of critical minerals from russia. we're creating a competitive market for u.s. mineral producers, not driven down by dumping from foreign actors and ex-standing -- extending a vital lifeline to places like stillwater. this also drives the local economy, drives the state

economy and it's a factor in the security of these united states of america. our bill encourages domestic production, decreases reliance on foreign minimal -- minerals, shores up supply chains and bolsters national security all while dealing a critical blow to putin's war machine. these factors combine to make a real difference in the lives of hardworking montanans whory lie on these jobs to make ends meet. i'll go on to another one of ours. signal peak mine. this is the only -- this is in mussel shoals downy. it's faced a similar reality after years of foot dragging and america last energy policy. this threatened the only underground coal minding operation. i spoke to miners who expressed concern about the mine's future. my pro-revenue act eliminate

this is uncertainty by facilitating a critical land transfer, that allows access to coal and gives the tribe part of the revenue. i'm confident we will be able to get this across the finish line for our tribal economies. this is another step in ensuring american energy dominance. in closing, let me make one thing abundantly clear. last new sheriff in town. none of these efforts would stand a chance of becoming law without this administration. president trump has taken swift executive action to declare a national energy emergency, reopened exploration on federal lands and waters, appointed an all-star cabinet with thes like of secretary wright and secretary burg hum to streamline permitting and unleash american energy. this is why i'm hopeful for projects like black butte copper near white sulfur springs who

are committed to unlocking the state's resources in a responsible manner and i can't wait to see what this next four years brings for my state and others like it. you the, let us not squand they are opportunity and work together to make american mining great again. with that, mr. chairman, i yield my time. mr. lamalfa: thank you, mr. downing. i appreciate your perspective on that. we're finding that these western state, the western caucus, focus area, i guess, is very rich in so much of what we need here. i appreciate your work with those folks in the mines to illustrate how important they are to the whole country. and our energy grid, etc. so thanks so much for your time with us. and the technical issues with the podium there. they emphasize the point. thanks so much. i'm pleased to have, you know, excited new freshman members who

want to take charge and get going here. it's good stuff. so with that, i'm -- we'll move on to another colleague, a new member from north dakota, who if enthusiasm to jump in with us here in the western caucus and help make it happen. another at-large district which means the entire state. even though there's maybe not a lot of people in these areas, it's extremely important what they do. so julie fedor chack from north dakota, please take it away. ms. fedorchak: thank you. i appreciate the couldn't to be here. thank you, mr. speaker. this little podium seems to have a mind of its own, i'm going to leave it down so it doesn't scare us all again. thank you, mr. speaker. and thank you to my colleagues in the western caucus for leading the charge to strengthen rural america's future. as a fourth generation north dakotan, i have seen how the hard work of our energy and

agriculture producers fuel our economy, strengthens our communities and secures or very way of life. that's why on monday i introduced a resolution to overturn the biden administration's reinstatement of the once-in, always-in rule. this is a shortsighted, bureaucratic mandate that punishes energy producers, manufacturers, and small businesses for investing in emissions reducks. this rule permanently classifies certain industrial facilities as major sources of hazardous air pollutants even if they take meaningful steps to recuse e-- reduce emissions below the federal thresholds. that makes no sense. facilities that make major investments to reduce emissions should be rewarded, not locked into outdated, costly regulations that discourage further investments.

by refusing to let businesses reclassify after making progress, this rule removes any real incentive to invest in cleaner technologies. instead of supporting innovation, it sends a clear message. don't even bother. democrats like to use the mantra of hope and change. this regulatory approach says, there's no hope, so don't change. that's not environmental stewardship. that's washington overreach. the united states has a reduced emissions -- has reduced emissions more than any other nation since 2005 all the while leading the world in energy production. we should be building on that success, not undermine it with policies like this outdated, overly burdensome biden regulation that stifled investment and progress. north dakota is proof that responsible energy production and environmental stewardship, they go hand in hand. it's not one or the other.

our state has never violated federal air quality standards. i want to say that again. our state has never violated federal air quality standards. while being one of the largest energy producers in the whole country. this is a testament to the more than $2 billion our energy producers have invested in emissions control technologies. they did that because they take their responsibilities seriously. they want to be good stewards of our resources and of our air and water. american businesses are dedicated to protecting the health, safety, and vie brancy of their communities. what they need is regulatory certainty, not a rule that locks them into compliance outdated standards even after they've done the right thing. this is about more than just one burdensome regulation. it's about standing up for the

industries that power our economy and rejecting washington's one size fits all approach. american energy solutions are climate solutions. american energy producers are providing the solutions that are going to solve energy needs and environmental needs for the world over. let's encourage investment in technology, not support regulations that make it impossible to do business. i'm proud to lead this effort in the house and i urge my colleagues to support this resolution. let's restore regulatory certainty, the number one cry from the industry that i meet with, we need regulatory certainty. and let's send a clear message that we stand with american energy producers, farmers, manufacturers, and we stand with innovation. mr. speaker, our nation has been blessed abundantly with natural

resources. misguided regulations and policies are strangling the very people in our nation who are building and producing everything that we need. they're strangling the people who create jobs who produce the product, the food. who pay taxes. who employ people. the people who make our communities strong. we need to stop doing that. we need to correct course in our approach for government and regulation. our republican house caucus, the president, the senate republican, we are committed to doing this for america and to making our nation, our states, our energy producers, our farmers, manufacturing, manufacturers and our communities to make all of those great again. thank you, mr. speaker, and i yield back. mr. law school mafia: thank you, representative fedorchak. great points you emphasize

mr. lamalfa: thank you, representative fedorchak. and the magnificent work that has to be done to produce. that's what the western states, western caucus, but indeed our whole country. i have to emphasize these products come from all over when we're talking mined materials, farmed materials, wood. it's all important. and the same laws that affect us in the western states affect us everywhere. why does it take permits -- take years to get the permits to do what we do well. and in the united states, a better set of environmental regulations that are way more conscious of that than what will be produced in china or the other pacific rim areas. we have the technology to do it the best as ms. fedorchak was

talking about. if you want to talk about co-2, which i don't a whole lot because i think co-2 is a simple building block and not a pollutant as has been whipped for so many years by regulatory agencies and n.g.o.'s and such. but if you want to look at how the united states has been doing, we're one of only a couple countries that have been able to level off or even reduce co-2 production. we'll get to the point it will be so critically harmful to our industry here, we need to reassess how burdensome these regulations are, especially for co-2 being not a poisonous pollutant, per se. plants need it. all things in moderation but we need a reality in how these come into effect. we talked about water storage

and energy production somewhat and how important hydroelectricity is and that's a co-2 free source. ms. maloy talked about geothermal. that's a clean source of energy to produce electricity. and what we haven't got to touch on much but there is also much, much potential as an issue the western caucus will be working on is nuclear energy, another co-2 free source of electricity if you want to deal with co-2, here you are. these forms of electricity seem to be pushed off in the regulatory community. we have access to the uranium in the western united states and the plants will serve our urban centers. i was talking about how much a.i. and data centers will use so much more electricity as well, if the electrification of

cars and strucks keeps getting pushed, where is that electricity going to come from? it's amazing how you can manufacture this in a latida atmosphere and we'll just have more e.v.'s but the people pushing that is not being accountable where the electricity will come from and they think more acres of prime farmland with solar panels will do it or offshore windmills producing a certain amount of electricity and they find they have problem with that and might have negative effects on the ocean life or animal life there. but we indeed need the ability to look at these layers and layers of court decisions since these laws were made with good intention in the early 1970's, talking about the endangered species act or nepa regulations, the clean water act, clean air act, all intended very well but have been weaponized by n.g.o.'s

and environmental organizations and even those with certain belief systems in government. as i know in my home state of california, they're weapon sizee good projects from happening. when we're talking about the endangered species reform, we have endangered species to stop water storage, highways from being built and power plants from being built, even things like levees being repaired in areas that have the potential to be flooded. one project in my district took 20-plus years to finally get approved and through for a levee project on an already existing levee. they required it be set back from the river more and then a bunch of habitat created out of the farmer farmer's other chards adjacent to that outside the old levee and inside the new levee and took 25 years because a endangered species enlisted by

the fish and wildlife 25 years ago or maybe longer that 15 years ago, they recommended, yeah, we can go ahead and delist that now. you can hardly delist anything it seems under the way these rules have been misinterpreted. one issue ravaging much of the west and has taken hold in my district has been the wolf population that's been introduced. i know the biden administration has done that towards the end. 40 wolves dumped in colorado the last minute out the door and wolves in california have really taken hold in the northeast part of the state. modat, eastern shasta, and other areas to a also lesser extent. and they're ravaging those areas. the deer population is being decimated.

when they run out of deer, guess where they're looking next? they go to the livestock. i don't mean to be morbid but this is what it looks like. there's a wolf trotting off a deer head. this isn't native to this area. these are native gray wolves, great big powerful wolves that really aren't indigenous to the farther western states and it's still listed and we're making our efforts to delist this wolf from that list. but it's running into problems, running into difficulties because of the environmental movement saying no, we need to have them everywhere. we need mating pairs in every county in order to bring satisfaction to their desires on that. these wolves are plentiful in canada and minnesota and it's

not an endangered species. there are plenty of numbers there. if you want to look at at a gray wolf, travel to that part of the country p. we don't need to have them everywhere somehow in order to be deemed recovered. if you want to look at a giraffe, you need to go to places in africa. if you want to look at places in north america other than a zoo, you can't deem them a endangered species because we don't have them here and someone will have to start a new program to encourage and build a giraffe habitat to bring in a species that really doesn't belong in that area. so it doesn't make a lot of sense and it's really devastating. over 200 californias have -- over 200 calves have been taken. here you see a calf that's been devastated, just completely annihilated and fed upon by a

pack of wolves there. i'm not doing this to be morbid. but i hope it does shock you. i hope it does shock you because this is really happening to people's livelihoods that are producing food that americans want, that others want, and they can't do so because of a wolf population that's been introduced by the urban people who thought oh, it would be nice to have them in that area and they don't have to live with the results. and they've been so braisen in how they act -- brazen in how they act in the area. here it's taken a sheep. any live stock is on the menu for them because when they start running out of the local wildlife, they're going to take what they need. and so the ability for people to

push back on that, to haze them or move them away is very limited by how fish and wildlife has made the rules. they have very few options to keep them not only from their herds but away from their doorstep, including this doorstep right here. yeah, this is a family dog right here. this is what's happening. to families that are working and living in those rural areas, four, five, six longer generations to put food on the table for americans. this is what they have to live with and can't let their pets out and can't let their kids go to the bus stop and have to be guarded and can't do normal things like go to school. people are afraid to go out of their homes at night in certain areas because you can hear the wolves howling and the wolves don't fear any fear of mankind and don't feel any deterrent due

to the very limited and meager measures people can take to deter them. they're not allowed to shoot them. they're not allowed to shoot over them. they're not allowed to be very aggressive with vehicles and such. indeed, one anecdote i received from visiting folks in the district is they have drones they try to fly over and move the wolves away from their herds and away from their area. apparently the herd just lays down and watches it. the other measures, they have to fly pieces of flags of ribbon on their fences and hope the ribbon flapping in the wind, it's caused fladdery and hope that scares the wolf away or they string wires of electric fence. and the wolf is smart and run in packs and are very effective at herding the live stock and moving them to other areas.

you hear stories about them coming in and wiping out an entire flock of sheep on one farm just for the heck of it. a single wolfe killed 30 sheep, killed the dog and basically scared the horse -- ran the horse over a cliff area, killing that. that's more or less for sport. and this is what's happening to people. this is what's happening in the northeast pass of my state in the west. the elk population and deer population being devastated in these areas. we don't get to talk about it much because it's not ideal under the endangered species act because we have to move these animals where it's deemed someone decides to go. and you have to prevent extinction just from what you have in the upper midwest and canada. what will it come down to? do we have to have people themselves be victimized to get a nice idyllic scene like this?

you see people hiking the trails. we have the pacific rim trail. have there been warnings sent out to those looking to utilize these trails or climb the different mountains around northern california? is there adequate warnings going out to the urban areas when people expect they'll be able to do this as they come travel and recreate a little bit later on this spring and fall. are they doing that? there's an idyllic scene of a family out there hiking and do they know there are wolves lurking here and they're hungry and have run out of deer to attack and the farmers and ranchers have sold their livestock herds or pulled them out or just lost them to wolf attacks, they'll get hungry and start coming after anything they can find. are people going to be on that list? am i being dramatic? no, this is a reality. this can happen. will this scene be allowed anymore in those areas?

well, it's a wolf habitat now, we don't have anybody recreating on their lands, their national parklands, the forestlands that are deemed to be multiuse. that use is being narrowed more and more to not doing timber operations and preventing wildfire and having wildlife flourish but to be a very narrow group being satisfied this. so this is part of the work that we need to get done and that the western caucus is going to be focusing on is endangered species and the farm bill. we need to pass a full farm bill that's good for five years and agriculture being a very important cornerstone of the western caucus priorities as well as it is a national priority. so with that, we have our work cut out for us but have a great

team on the western caucus staff and nearly 100 members of the house that are on this as well as our colleagues in the senate led by my good friend from wyoming. it's a very positive thing and i'm looking forward to the work here and honored to be able to chair it. with that, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2025, the chair recognizes the gentleman from california, mr. kiley, for 30 minutes. .. mr. kiley: mr. speaker, i rise today to inform folks throughout california and the entire country of one of the biggest scandals in our state's history

is that governor newsom is bankrupting medicaid in our state. he is driving insolvent through a policy that exists nowhere else in the country in no other state, a policy of offering free, comprehensive, medicaid or meedycal to the entire population of illegal immigrants who meet the income threshold. no other state has done this and in california, it has been an absolute disaster. initially it was estimated that this unprecedented expansion would cost a few billion dollars. but now, it turns it's going to cost $9.5 billion just for this year. and because of that enormous cost overrun, because of the resulting shortfall of some $6

billion, governor newsom has taken out an emergency loan from the general fund in order to cover payments and on top of that, he has asked the legislature to appropriate even more money, billions more. so think about what this means over the next 10 years. if the cost has grown from a few billion to $# .5 billion in the first year, what can we expect year over year going forward? we are talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of money from california taxpayers that will be spent this next decade implementing a policy that exists nowhere else in the country to provide comprehensive government-provided health care to those who are in our state illegally. and here's the worst thing, not only is this fiscally

unsustainable, but those are funds that could be going to shoring up medicaid and improving the system and improving access to care and improving the quality of care for our own legal residents. if you are a california citizen on medicaid right now, the kind of coverage that you get, the kind of actual delivery of service that you get likely is not that good. doctors throughout the state simply will not take medicaid patients because the reimbursement rate is so low. and so this policy of governor newsom and supermajority in california is a conscious decision to put the entire solvency of our system at risker to dplish access to care for our own residents and make it harder to get appointments because there is a whole new population looking to get into the system and doing so that doesn't have

precedent anywhere else in the country. in many cases it costs the state more money to provide medicaid to a person who is in the state illegally because there is no federal funding for such enrollees and the state bears the entire cost and even the overall costs forgetting about who is paying for it could be higher because when you look at the rebates tore prescription drugs that are available at the federal level because the federal government negotiates in bulk, it's not available for this population so we are paying more than we would for our own citizens. mr. speaker, this outrageous policy simply cannot continue. i am calling on governor newsom and the state legislature to reverse it immediately.

that should be the obvious next step when the system has gone insolvent to the extent that the governor is forced to take out an emergency loan. here in congress, i have introduced legislation that will preserve mid aid in california and across the country for only those who are legal residents of our country. i think we have an opportunity to rein what newsom is doing so through the reconciliation process and i will do that to protect medicaid for californians. mr. speaker, i would like to provide an update on the latest unbelievable revelations

concerning high-speed rail, the high-speed rail disaster in california. yesterday, california's legislative analysts testified before the state legislature that the project faces a $7 billion budget gap and the funds must be secured by next june. the legislative analysts' spokes person said there is no specific plan, this is a quote, there is no specific plan to meet that $7 billion gap and we think that that gap could grow. indeed the hearing at which the legislative analyst testified was very brief because the high-speed rail authority submitted an incomplete update to those who organized the hearing. the high-speed rail authority can't complete anything on time even its own reports to the

legislature let alone a high-speed train from los angeles to san francisco or bakersfield to merced which is projected to miss the 2033 deadline. listen to the bipartisan push back this is getting. steven bennett from ventura said, we have no plan and likelihood that it's going to get worse and short time to solve the problem. the definition of insafnty said a democratic assembly member is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. here's an amazing thing is the legislative analysts testified that this update that the rail authority provided this incomplete update assumes there will be federal dollars.

so they are saying there is a $7 billion shortfall for the next few months that has an unrealistic further assumption that there will be further federal funding. there will not be. i was at a press conference with transportation secretary sean duffy just a few weeks ago in los angeles where it was made very clear that this project is a failure and in fact, there is now an investigation launched by the department of transportation to claw back billions that have been granted. i have also asked for an investigation by f.b.i. director kash patel to figure out how exactly they spent $17 billion and the cost has grown to excess of 130 billion and no track has been laid after 16 years of some kind of work supposedly being

done. and finally, i have introduced legislation to make the high-speed rail project ineligible for further federal funding at any point going alford which again, the rail authority is entirely reliant on the assumption of federal funding just to get to a point there is only a $7 billion budget gap for just the next few months. the fact of the matter is that this project has failed. it is not going to happen and absolutely no justification for spending another dollar of taxpayer money especially when our roads continue to crumble and rated among the worst in the world. i will be advancing my legislation here. and i am calling on governor newsom and the legislature to do the right thing to end this

embarrassing project once and for all. mr. speaker, today on the house floor, there was an amendment offered that suffered the most overwhelming defeat that i have ever seen in the united states congress and for good reason, because it is perhaps the most abhorrent legislative proposal i have ever seen in the united states congress. representative from michigan, representative tlaib introduced a measure that would classify israel as an adversary of the united states along side the likes of china, iran and north

korea. fortunately this proposal was swiftly and nearly unanimously rejected by the house of representatives. look at the vote total. a grand total of three people including the author voted yes, every other single member democrat and republican, over 400 members voted no. this sends a very important message regarding what is being suggested with this proposal here. to suggest that one of our most important allies in the entire world, israel, at this time, where it faces so many challenges is somehow a country of concern, an adversary comparable to iran and north korea and to single israel, this one country, to single out this one country, of all the

countries in the world. you know, we have seen across america and in particular on college campuses deeply disturbing abhorrent antisemitism that has absolutely no place that we never thought we would see in this country. and i think that when you have proposals in congress that encourage that, that are very much aligned with the pro-hamas antisemitic encampment that took over universities across the country, it is very important that that is condemned strongly and unaquiffically and i am proud exactly what the house of representatives did today.

mr. speaker, the california center for jobs and the economy has just released an absolutely stunning report that shows how deeply governor gavin newsom has driven our state's economy into the ground. among the findings was that for the month of january job growth in our state was, well, nonexistent. the number of net jobs added to the california economy was exactly zero for the month of january. florida added 16, 500. even new york added 20,000 100. california added zero. indeed california is only one of five states in the country that

has not recovered the jobs that it lost during the covid shutdowns. and our unemployment rate is the second highest in the country, second highest out of all 50 states and there are a million californians who are unemployed and that has been true for 13 straight months. what's more, even those jobs that have been created in the covid recovery are entirely government or government dependent jobs. so to quote the spokes person or the head of the california business round table, to put it more directly, other than trade california ha has not grown trade during the past four years of recovery. it has bought them with public funds. we have had zero job growth, zero recovery, if it weren't for

government jobs. what's more beyond that, even when you look at folks who are employed, the average number of hours per week is shrinking in california as well. this is truly stunning when you consider everything that our state has to offer. not only being a place that has a greater diversity of natural wonders, attractions and beauty than any place on earth, but has so many dynamic thriving industries and companies and employers, such a rich history of innovation, of driving the nation alford somehow this governor and the existing legislature have managed to turn it into the state that does the absolute worse when it comes to jobs of any state in the country. . . . . you can look at misguided policy after misguided policy to

discourage companies from starting and discourage companies from adding jobs and discourage companies from being here and more people have left this state than consecutive years. i'm working on legislation in congress as much as we can use the levers we have here at the federal level to try to bring sanity back to the economic policy environment in california because there are areas where federal and state policy intersect. for example, we're getting rid of all of these e.v. mandates or electric train mandates or electric truck mandates or electric lawn mower mandates. i'll be introducing a congressional review act resolution to end gavin newsom's plant to ban gas powered cars in california. beyond that, there are a number of state policies that everyone knows are causing immense harm and yet remain on the books.

so if our state's leadership has the chance to look at this report and get a little dose of reality and has any inclination to actually try to turn things around and help folks in our state, here are a few suggestions. repeal ab-5 which effectively banned independent contracting in our state and put countless freelancers out of work. overturn the private attorney general's act haga which is the bayne of many small business existence and many have been forced to close because of the harassing lawsuits it leads to. re-examine every mandate we place on employers, especially those that don't exist in any other state and evaluate the impact they have on the incentive to hire. take a cue from president trump who says we're going to appeal 10 regulations for every new

regulation we offer. if there's any place where the regulatory thicket can rival or even surpass that of the federal government, it is the bureaucracy that we have in california. and speaking of the bureaucracy, find ways to rein in these massive, unelected policy-making bodies we have in california such as carb, the california air resources board. these are just a few suggestions. but our state has absolutely enormous potential that currently is being dramatically underutilized. and it's truly a sad thing as we see it in every community in this state. you see your favorite restaurant or another cherished small business that suddenly closes its doors for good. and you see so many of our fellow citizens who are lacking for the sort of opportunities that a well-governed state would allow them. so i would hope if anything can

be a wake-up call, then this latest stunning report with this very round number of zero new jobs will serve as that wake-up call that can cattallize and motivate real -- catylize and motivate some real jobs in california. mr. speaker, i'd like to congratulate and thank space x and its crew dragon capsule for successfully returning the two astronauts barry wilmor and suni williams who had been stranded in the international space station for 286 days. most americans are now familiar

with the story, with the issues that arose with the boeing starliner that made them unable to return on that vessel, and the delays that ensued after that such that these astronauts had to overstay their planned trip by many, many, many weeks. and it was just on march 18, a little over a week ago, that they finally were brought home thanks to space x and splashed down in the gulf of america. this was a great moment for our country. certainly a great moment for the astronauts and their families. and i think it serves as a reminder of how important america's lead when it comes to the commercial space industry is. we saw just this last year repeated efforts by the biden

administration to hold back and target space x. space x totals 90% of the total payload brought into orbit in the entire world and targeting space x is weakening our own country given how important our global dominance in space is. this latest demonstration of the capacity of this particular company and american ingenuity in general to accomplish amazing feats should hopefully serve as a reminder that we have now turned a page, that we are now encouraging innovation and we must never return to the mis guided policy also and frankly discriminatory treatment that prevailed in the administration of president biden. thanks again to space x and

welcome home, a long delayed welcome home and welcome back to earth to our astronauts. mr. speaker, i have the honor of chairing the subcommittee that has jurisdiction over all of k-12 education. and i wanted to let folks know about a very important hearing that we're having next tuesday at 10:15 a.m. eastern time. on artificial intelligence and its uses in education. some folks might hear the topic of that hearing and think about things like well, is a.i. making it easier for students to cheat or is this going to absorb young people even further into digital

worlds? those are certainly concerns. but the focus of our hearing is going to be on the upside, on the tremendous potential, the boundless opportunities that a.i., even as it exists right now, let alone what its capabilities are going to be in a matter of weeks and months and years, the unbelievable opportunities to close achievement gaps and advance student achievement. i firmly believe that if it isn't already true now, it will be true in a very short time that every child in america now has the ability to get a richer, more immersive education than any child did just a few years ago. i was part of an organization when i was a teacher that was aimed at closing achievement gaps in america. and the different opportunities that are afforded to young students depending on the zip code that they live in.

it's an ongoing failure of our public education system. and there are many policy changes we need to make to address that, such as providing for greater choices for students and their families. but the use of a.i. is another tool, an incredibly powerful tool for closing these achieve ment gaps because now, no matter where you're born, the zip code you live in, or the neighborhood school that's closest to you, you as a young person growing up in america can access the entirety of human knowledge and have it given to you in a way that meets your own starting knowledge level, your own ability level, your own strengths and weaknesses is conveyed to you in the modality that fits for you. and we're seeing incredible things, incredible things that are being done already at different schools across the

country as well with platforms like the con academy where you can have a direct dialogue with a chatbot or, for example, a reanimated, a version of albert einstein that teaches you physics or have a dialogue with a historical figure as you're learning history or with a literary character as you're reading a classic novel. and beyond giving the student this novel immersive experience that's uniquely tailored to them, it also liberates teachers to focus on those sort of things that only a caring human instructor can do. so we're still in the very early stages and the capabilities of a.i. systems are growing by the day. but i think this is going to be a very important moment for us to look at what's being done now and what we can do going forward to expand these incredible

learning opportunities to every child in america. so you can tune in to our hearing next tuesday, 10:15 a.m. eastern time. mr. speaker, i wish to mark and celebrate the centennial anniversary of the rotary club of grass valley, based in california's third congressional district. the rotary club of grass valley was started in 1925 by leaders inspired by the rotary's movement of ideals and best practices. the members represent a cross section of the community, businessmen and professionals directly involved with the major regional economic activities of mining and timber harvesting. the outbreak of world war ii had a profound impact of the activities of the rotary club as many of its members were called to serve in the u.s. armed forces. those who remained in grass

valley continued to support the war effort through various initiatives such as organizing blood drives, collecting scrap metal and helping military families. the history of the rotary club of grass valley is a testament to the power of community spirit and collective action. today the rotary club hosts several community events to support the numerous programs and activities that provide the resources needed to promote the quality of life of grass valley residents, the surrounding region, and communities across the globe. for more than 10 decades now the club has demonstrated a ongoing commitment to service, fellowship, and leadership. their contributions are an indelible part of the grass valley community and have made a lasting impact on our region. therefore, on behalf of california's third congressional district and the united states house of representatives, i am pleased to recognize the rotary club of grass valley for your outstanding contributions throughout your 100-year history and commend them for their

ongoing and tireless devotion to their service. here's to another great 100 years. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. does the gentleman have a motion? mr. kiley: i do move the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until noon on monday next for morning hour debate.

funded by these television companies and more, including and we're just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service. along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> american history tv, saturdays on c-span 2, exploring the people and events that tell the american story. this weekend at 6:00 p.m. eastern, calvin university heart history professor henry

luttikhuizen talk about political cartoonists, especially pat oliphant. and we look at the first 100 days of presidential terms and this week we focus on president ronald reagan's first term in 1981, including the release of american hostages in iran and the assassination attempt of the president by john hinckley jr. and then on electric truers in history, santa clara art professor history teacher and paintings known as the hudson. and walter abernathy recounted the storied history of the u.s.s. potomac, franklin roosevelt used the yacht throughout his presidency and planned to meet with winston churchill. after his death it had a history and is now a professional landmark docked in oakland, california. watch american history tv